A Traitor Among Us
by Oxymoronic Alliteration
Summary: Someone is stealing files from the FBI and an investigation leads them to a member of Gibbs' team. Written for the NFA Community "Shall I Play the Villain?" Challenge
1. Chapter 1

The elevator door dinged open and he stepped off. The area was dark and desolate, as he knew it would be. Having worked here for four months, he knew the schedule of the employees. He knew when they came in, when they left, who went to lunch when, and so on. Even if he had miscalculated, had made an error and arrived when someone else was there, it wouldn't have been a problem. It wasn't unusual for him to be down there. He could make small talk, coming up with some excuse to explain his presence.

He sat down at the area that had been his for four months. It hadn't changed in the past year, as though no one had even touched it. Maybe they hadn't. He hoped no one had changed their password. Probably not; they had no reason to believe he knew their passwords and even if they did, what would he possibly do with that knowledge?

The computer loaded and he first tried his old password. It worked, much to his delight. _I guess no one _has_ used this one_, he thought to himself. _Maybe they've retired it like they do with jerseys in sports_. It was an amusing thought; it wouldn't have been too conceited of him to acknowledge the way they'd fawned over him and treated him like the demigod of Cyber Crimes Unit. It had been to his advantage that he was held in such high esteem. It had made doing this all the simpler.

With the computer fully loaded, he placed the flash drive in and got to work. He knew it would take some time, but he was prepared to stay as long as he needed to. He'd already reworked the key card monitor so that it wouldn't show that he'd been there and the security camera was on a loop. Anyone watching would just see an empty room, giving him plenty of time to work in peace.

Hacking into the FBI was nothing new. He'd been in their system so many times he probably knew it better than their computer geeks. For him, entering the system was akin to walking into your parent's home after being away at college for a few months. That didn't mean he shouldn't proceed with caution. When he'd been ordered to hack them by Gibbs he could hide behind that if he got caught (though he'd rarely been caught). In this case he couldn't do that. He couldn't get caught on this one; he _wouldn't_ get caught on this one. It put the pressure on, making him sweat profusely even as he sat there, barely moving, save for his fingers which were flying around the keyboard with no hesitation.

The only sounds filling the room were the harsh clicks of the keys, the monotonous ticks of the clock and the violent beats of his heart. Maybe it was his imagination, but the latter sound was almost deafening. But why should he care how loud the beats were? No one could hear him; no one was there. Right? Feeling the hairs on his neck begin to prickle, he looked quickly over his shoulder. No one was there.

_Get a grip_, he told himself as he turned back around. _Just get in, get the job done, and get out_.

Time sped by and before he knew it he was done. He removed the flash drive and pocketed it before he shut down the computer. He still had a sheen of sweat on his forehead as he rode the elevator up, though a quick wipe of his arm got rid of that. By the time he left NCIS he was completely composed and had worked his heartbeat down to its regular pace. He resisted the urge to grin in satisfaction. He had done it!

The security guard at the front door gave him a nod as he walked past. "You're here awfully late."

He shrugged. "Figured I'd get a lot of my paperwork out of the way so I wouldn't have to come in early tomorrow."

"Well, you have yourself a good night, Agent McGee."

* * *

Fornell opened the door and shed his coat. He hung it on the rack in his foyer before going into the kitchen and pouring a glass of Scotch. He tried not to drink during the week, but damn if he hadn't earned it that night. Today had not been the best of days and tomorrow would prove to be an even worse day. He didn't like the idea of accusing someone of treason, especially not someone he'd held in such high regard. No doubt many people would be surprise; hell, _he'd_ been surprised when he'd had the first suspicion, but he'd had no choice but to investigate it further.

He lifted the glass to his lips and drank the entire thing in one gulp. Then he poured another. The damn kid had been good, he'd give him that. Of everyone in the agency he'd been the last person Fornell would have suspected of treason (and that included Fornell himself). Of course, he conceded, that was the point. No one suspected a guy like that. They brushed him off as being a geek and geeks can never pose a threat. Until they do, Fornell thought wryly to himself.

With the second glass in hand, he returned to the living room, kicked off his shoes, and sat down on the couch. The file was there on the coffee table where he'd left it that morning. He flipped through it. The kid had started off small: first he'd grabbed low-class information, stuff that anyone with basic hacking skills could get. It would get him some money on the secret-trading market, but not much. As time went by, the hacker had gotten cockier and had begun stealing more high-class things, the kind of things people would pay good money for. The kind of stuff not just anyone could gain access to.

He turned on the television but he wasn't paying much attention. His mind was on other matters.

As he returned to the kitchen for another glass of Scotch the ground shook beneath him. He couldn't be sure if he heard it or saw it first, but he turned just in time to watch his couch explode. The force propelled him backward into the dinner table, his body knocking the table over onto its side. He landed behind it, falling among pieces of glass from his now shattered centerpiece (a birthday gift from his ex-wife and one he wouldn't spend much time mourning) and the piles of paperwork he'd left on the table that morning. Fornell's head struck the hard linoleum floor and his mind began to go black as his former couch blazed in the living room.

The last thing he thought before falling unconscious was that how glad he was that Emily was staying at her mother's house that night.

* * *

**AN:** This story is already complete and I'll post about one chapter a day (maybe one every other day depending on how busy I get). When reading this, just remember: sometimes things aren't what they seem!


	2. Chapter 2

"_The cause of the explosion is still unknown, though the case is being thoroughly investigated. Authorities have told us that the house's occupant—an FBI agent by the name of Tobias Fornell—was alone when the explosion occurred; his daughter Emily was staying at her mother's house. Agent Fornell was alive but unresponsive when the found him and is currently in critical condition at a Virginia hospital."_

Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva stood around the plasma, watching with horror and concern as the perky blonde news reporter described the events of the previous night. At approximately 2342 an explosion had gone off within Fornell's house. It had destroyed a good portion of the ground floor—mostly the living and dining areas—as well as a bit of the upstairs area. Luckily, one of Fornell's neighbors worked as a firefighter; the man called in the explosion before running over to see what he could do to help. He pulled an unconscious Fornell from the kitchen—the force of the explosion had catapulted him behind the kitchen table which, fortunately, had offered a sort of protection against the ensuing fire—and checked him for wounds until an ambulance showed up.

"Who did Fornell piss off?" Tony muttered.

"I imagine that working with the FBI can earn a person many enemies," Ziva replied. "Who knows which of the many people he has put away is holding a vengeance?"

Director Vance had made the announcement minutes before and the team found themselves glued to the screen, hoping to find out more information. That was how Tim found them when he entered the squad room. They didn't even notice him as he dropped his things off at his desk and took a place behind them.

"What happened?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

Tony glanced back. "Got some bags under your eyes there, Probie. Rough night?"

"Long night," he replied vaguely before repeating his original question. "What happened?"

"Fornell," Gibbs said without pulling his eyes from the screen, "His house exploded last night."

Tim eyes widened as he drank in the information. "What? How?"

"They don't know yet."

"Judging by the damage done to his house, my guess is that the explosive was centralized within the living room," Ziva said.

Tim glanced at the screen. The news had moved on to another story, but a marquee scrolled along the bottom of the screen recapping the story for late-comers. "Was he home? Did anyone get hurt?"

"He was home and got knocked pretty badly," Tony told him. "It's a miracle he's even still alive."

"Does he remember anything about the explosion?"

Tony shrugged. "He's still out. They don't even know if he'll make it through this."

Tim took a few steps back and leaned against the front of his desk. "Lucky thing his daughter wasn't home last night."

Ziva turned to look at him. "How did you know that?"

Tim hemmed and hawed a bit before giving a proper response. "I ran into him yesterday when I went out for lunch and he mentioned that Emily was staying with her mom for the week. I can't even imagine if she had been there last night."

"She may not have fared as well as her father," Ziva said in agreement.

Gibbs tightened his jaw before slapping the off button on the plasma. There were no new developments and it didn't look like there would be for a while. He'd already told Vance and Fornell's team to keep him updated on what was happening. They didn't need to stand there all day watching the news.

"I believe you all have paperwork to finish," he said as he took a seat behind his desk.

"Finished mine last night, boss," Tim told him, though he too took his seat.

"Well, that's great, McGee. Are you expecting a prize or something?"

Tim knew better than to respond to that. Gibbs was obviously worried about Fornell (one of the few people he considered a friend) and the way he dealt with that was by lashing out. Tim didn't take it personally. "I'm sure I have more to do," he assured his boss.

"Gibbs!"

The voice rang out across the squad room and everyone turned to see Director Vance coming down the stairs. He strode past the desks and stopped before Gibbs'. "FBI is sending someone over to talk to you."

The other man looked up with a little more than surprise. "Why?" While he certainly considered Fornell a friend, there was no reason for the FBI to speak with him. He couldn't tell them anything they didn't already know.

"They didn't tell me. They just said they needed to get your view on something. Something classified that Fornell was working on."

"Is it what almost got him killed?"

"Very possible, but they aren't certain yet. I'll have a conference room cleared for you."

After Vance left, Tony spoke up. "Sounds like the best motive to me."

Tim was frowning but he nodded. "Could be. Whoever he was tracking may have realized he was getting close to them and tried to take him out."

Tony looked at him with a slight bit of suspicion. "What makes you think he was tracking someone, McGee?"

He shrugged. "I just assumed. What other kind of classified case could get his house blown up?"

"Well, if that is the case this person was sloppy," Ziva said. "When assassinating a threat you must take no chances. From what I have heard of the damages, the bomb was a low-grade one."

"I don't think Fornell and his smoldering house would agree," Tony quipped, earning him a sour look from Ziva.

"What I mean is that its success was dependant upon Fornell being in a certain part of his home. If you choose a bomb as your weapon of choice, you must be certain it will do the job no matter where your target is in the home."

Tony shook his head. "Sometimes I think you know way too much about this kind of stuff, Ziva."

"Knowing the enemy is vital to catching them, Tony. This is the work of an amateur, not someone with a great knowledge of explosives."

"So I guess the FBI can eliminate perps from Fornell's pyro-related cases."

As Tony and Ziva continued their discussion of who may have gone after Fornell and their possible motives, only Gibbs noticed how quiet Tim had become.

* * *

Agent Sacks looked grim as he was lead into the conference room Gibbs was currently occupying. Though that was nothing new—Gibbs couldn't recall ever seeing the FBI Agent smile—this time the frown was accompanied with something else, something Gibbs couldn't quite figure out. Worry? Anger? Both?

"Thank you for meeting with me, Agent Gibbs."

He nodded. "How is Fornell doing?"

"He's still unresponsive, but he's doing better. The doctors said they can't be sure yet, though." Sacks took a seat. He extracted a file from his bag and plopped it down on the table in front of Gibbs.

"This the classified case?" he asked as he plucked the file up and opened it.

"That's it. At least, it's my copy of it. Fornell had his own copy that he had brought home."

Gibbs smiled despite the gravity of the situation. "And I'll bet it wasn't one of the survivors of the explosion."

"Some bits of it made it through, but it's in our lab. Hopefully they'll be able to get parts of it restored. Fornell liked to make his own notes and didn't always share them with the rest of us, so there might be something on there that could help us."

"How many people were privy to this case?" Gibbs asked as he scanned the file. It regarded the theft of sensitive information from the FBI database. Based on the areas that had been hacked, the perpetrator had nabbed, among other things, the locations of FBI safe houses, a list of surveillance details the FBI currently had going, and the names and locations of two dozen people who'd been placed under witness protection. That left the FBI with a lot of cleaning up to do. It meant they had to find new safe houses and notify to witnesses (meaning they would have to uproot them from their lives once more). It also meant that months of surveillances were now down the drain.

"That's a difficult question to answer, Gibbs. Everyone at the agency knew about the hacker and Gibbs had a lot of people working different parts of it, but only three of us knew all of the details: Fornell, myself, and Agent Courtney Krieger. Lately, though, I'd begun to think that he knew more than he was telling us."

"Did he suspect that the culprit was someone within the agency?"

"It was a theory. He figured it had to be someone who had a good amount of knowledge of the FBI database."

"So what makes you think he wasn't telling you and Krieger everything?"

"For one thing, his taking the file home with him. It wasn't common practice for him. He also began sending e-mails instead of using the phone, making me think he didn't want anyone to overhear what he was saying. I think he was on to something, but he didn't want to say just yet."

Gibbs closed the file and slid it back to Sacks. "Well, this is all very interesting, but I don't see what it has to do with me. You probably have a better idea than I do who might have done this."

Sacks' jaw tightened visibly as he reclaimed the file and placed it in his bag. "I think you can agree that whoever the hacker is must have strong computer skills."

"I've never met a hacker who didn't."

"And the information he or she was able to get were things they'd have to really know to look for, right? Maybe not know within the FBI database, but understand the databases of most government agencies."

Gibbs shrugged; he didn't know the inner workings of the FBI electronic database any more than he knew the inner workings of NCIS', but that sounded about right. "I suppose so."

"That narrows down our line of suspects to government agents with computer skills, specifically ones who we know have been in the FBI database before."

"Mm-hm," Gibbs murmured, hoping Sacks would get to the point. "Of course, these days a good number of government agents are knowledgeable of computers. Everything's gone hi-tech."

"Yes, but not many have the same level of skill needed obtain the things our hacker has obtained." At that, Sacks pulled out another file and dropped it on the desk in front of Gibbs.

He took it and opened it, more than a little shocked at whose file it was. "McGee?" he asked, looking up at Sacks. "You think McGee is the hacker?"

"It's just a theory at this point, but he has the credentials and skills to pull it off, not to mention access to government files already."

Gibbs dropped the file angrily onto the desk. "So do lots of other computer geeks, some of them in the FBI."

"And we're looking into them as well," Sacks said calmly. "We're not making any definite accusations, but we need to consider everyone."

But Gibbs was having none of it. "Do you keep a checklist of my people or something, Sacks? First you accuse Tony of murder, then you accuse Ziva of espionage and treason, and now you're going after McGee?"

"Those accusations, while false, were based on an overwhelming amount of evidence," he snapped back. "I don't claim that mistakes weren't made, but I'd liked to have seen you work those cases without coming to the same conclusions!"

"And what evidence have you got in this case?" Gibbs asked. "Aside from McGee being a computer geek and government agent, what could you possibly have to go on?"

"Nothing," Sacks admitted. "At least not yet. As I said, this isn't an accusation. We're still investigating, picking up where Fornell left off."

"If it's not an accusation why are you here?" Gibbs all but snarled. "I don't think you're the type to drop by for a social chat."

"Agent McGee is your man. I wanted to ask if you'd noticed any suspicious behavior from him recently."

Gibbs took a moment to mull over the question, not because he honestly thought Sack's suspicions had any weight, but because he knew if he answered right away Sacks would think he was trying to cover up for one of his people (which was ridiculous seeing as there was nothing to cover up). There had been a slight change in Tim's demeanor, but nothing of note. Sometimes he stayed late (usually claiming he wanted to finish some paperwork) and he'd taken to volunteering for their daily lunch runs, no longer bemoaning the task or trying to pawn it off onto Tony or Ziva. But if something like that made a person guilty then the FBI had reason to suspect about half of the agency, including Gibbs.

"Nothing," he said firmly. "McGee's been the same as always."

Sacks raised an eyebrow. "And how do I know you're not just saying that?"

"You don't," Gibbs shot back, "but that's all I'm saying on the matter. I don't need you taking up his time when he's got work to do, so unless you've got more to go on, you can show yourself out."

He didn't argue the point as he gathered his things, but Sacks wasn't going to give up so easily. Gibbs could see that hardened look in his eyes; it was the same one he'd had back when Tony was framed for murder and, so Gibbs was told, the same one he'd had when trying to track down Ziva. He had no disillusions about this issue being over.


	3. Chapter 3

Three pairs of curious eyes fell upon him when he re-entered the bullpen and took his place. Tony, Ziva, and Tim exchanged glances, each urging the others to ask what was on all of their minds.

"Boss?" Tony was the first to test the waters. "Were my eyes playing tricks on me or was our building just infested by the FBI vermin known as Agent Sacks?"

"Your eyesight is fine, DiNozzo. It was Sacks."

"And?"

"And what, DiNozzo?" he snapped.

"What was he here for?"

"He wanted to talk to me about Fornell."

"Did he tell you what the classified case was?"

That last question came from Tim. Gibbs looked up. Was it his imagination, or did Tim look the slightest bit worried? He shook is head; no, that was just Sacks getting into his mind. Tim was just asking out of curiosity.

"No," he lied. It wasn't their case and there was no reason mention anything, lest someone within NCIS begin to get the same idea Sacks had. He didn't need crazy conspiracy theorists running wild. "He just said Fornell had been working on something big and may have been onto something." He looked up just in time to see Tim avert his eyes. Why did Gibbs have the nagging sense that Tim was feeling very guilty about something?

"Well, I'm sure it'll have to come out eventually," Tony commented. He didn't even notice Tim wince ever so slightly, but Gibbs did. Against his better judgment he let it pass without a comment, but filed it away in the back of his mind.

"Do they know who may have planted the explosive?" Tim asked.

Gibbs didn't answer the question, but rather ordered, "McGee, go down and see if Abby needs any help with that cell phone we recovered from Pvt. Claybourne's car, seeing as you've got nothing better to do than ask me questions about an FBI case."

The other man's cheeks tinted pink, but he nodded. "Sure, boss," he said sheepishly before walking off briskly.

Across the way, Tony and Ziva exchanged looks of surprise. Sure, Gibbs was always gruff, but typically he only took it that far when something was seriously bothering him. "Was that really necessary, Gibbs?" Ziva asked. "He was only curious; we all are."

"When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it," was his even more acerbic reply. "This isn't the FBI; it's their case, not ours, so there's no point in wasting our energy on it."

To anyone else, Gibbs' words would have seemed cold and callous; certainly not the kind of thing a person said when a friend had almost been killed and was still in critical condition. But Tony and Ziva knew him well; his words were a defense mechanism to hide his concern, and they of all people were in no position to call him on that.

"Got it, boss," they both said before returning to work.

* * *

Tim stepped off the elevator, but not into Abby's lab. He'd taken a short detour, figuring Abby and the dead-end cell phone could wait.

"Agent McGee!"

He turned and saw a scraggly young man looking at him with eyes wide as saucers. Tim smiled. "Hey, Walt! How are things going?"

"What are you doing down here?" Walt asked, oblivious to the question Tim had just asked. "Did they send you down here again?"

Around them the other CCU workers (all of whom had looked up at Walt's exclamation) began tittering excitedly at the very idea. Even those who hadn't been working CCU during the four months Tim had been there had heard about him. He was the computer geek who got to carry a gun. It was exciting for people who only got to sit in front of computer screens all day.

Tim held up a hand. "Sorry, but no." A few sighs of remorse (mostly from the small population of female CCU workers) echoed around him; it made him grin. "I just realized that I hadn't been down here in a while and thought I'd see what I've been missing."

"You? The special agent?" Walt asked incredulously. "Not much. I'm sure whatever you've been doing has been far more exhilarating than anything you ever did down here."

_Don't bet on it_, Tim thought, though he kept his face pleasant.

"But your computer's still here," Walt continued, gesturing to the only vacant computer in the CCU, "just as you left it."

"We didn't want anyone else to use it in case you came back," said a woman by the name of Shelly. She smiled shyly at Tim. "After a while, it just became habit that no one used it."

"I'm flattered," he said sincerely. "But I'm not here to stay. I just wanted to pop in and say hi."

"Hey, did you hear about that FBI guy?" Walt asked. "What was his name? He and that Agent Gibbs guy are pretty good friends, right?"

"Fornell," Tim supplied. "And yes, he and Gibbs are friends…sort of."

"Did his house really get blown up?" someone asked.

"Do they know who it was yet?" another shouted.

"Is Agent Gibbs going to take the case?" inquired another.

Tim held his hands up as though he could physically ward off the questions. "Guys, I don't know any more than any of you do. And if I did, I really wouldn't be at liberty to talk about it."

A grumble of disappointment wove through them, but no one pushed the topic. They were still surprised to see Tim down there after all this time.

"Guess I should get back," he said, glancing at his watch. "But it was nice to see you all again."

"Don't be a stranger," Shelly said.

"Yeah, you know you're always welcome down here."

"Good to know," he said before stepping back onto the elevator. He gave them a friendly wave as the doors closed. When the elevator began to move, though, he breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way any of them had noticed anything. Not that he'd left anything behind for them to notice, but he was getting paranoid. One couldn't be too careful.

When he walked into Abby's lab he was greeted by a deep frown from the forensic scientist. "McGee!" she scolded.

He took on a deer in headlights stance, wondering why she was so angry. "What?"

"When I called Gibbs ten minutes ago he said you were on your way down! Now I know for a fact that it does _not_ take that long to get down here!"

"Oh," he said as he exhaled, "sorry, Abs. I ran into one of the CCU guys and he asked if I could help him with something. I figured it would be quick. Guess it wasn't as quick as I thought."

The explanation seemed to do the trick, though she was still visibly annoyed. "You're lucky I didn't call Gibbs and ask if you'd gotten lost or something. Even if you were helping someone, I doubt he would have been pleased that you weren't doing what he told you to do."

"Why are you so antsy about how soon I got down here anyway?

She grabbed him and pulled him away from the door and all the way back into her ballistics testing area. After a precursory glance, she closed that door too and turned to face him. "What is going on?"

"Abby, what are you talking about? Going on with what?"

"With Fornell, McGee! His house explodes and he's on his death bed and Gibbs is just up there acting like it's no big deal!"

"Okay, a) he is not on his death bed, he's in critical condition, and b) it's Gibbs! You know he doesn't exactly like to show his feelings."

"Well, why was Agent Sacks here? That can't be good news, right?"

"He just came to talk to Gibbs."

By now, Abby was on a frantic roll, spouting off various theories as she paced back and forth. "Maybe whoever did this to Fornell is going after people from all federal agencies and Sacks came to warn Gibbs that he's in danger!"

"Abby…"

"Or maybe Fornell left a code before the explosion and Gibbs is the only one who can figure it out!"

"Abs…"

'Or maybe Fornell wasn't really in the house but he needs to fake his own death to keep himself safe from something!"

"Hey!" Tim shouted as he grabbed her gently by the arms and stopped her in her place. "Abby, you're going to wear yourself out if you don't calm down!"

"Calm down? How can I be calm when Gibbs might be next?"

"Gibbs is _not_ next. Sacks just wanted to talk to him about the guy stealing from the FBI. It has nothing to do with NCIS."

She stopped and looked at him, eyebrows raised and eyes brimming with anger. "Someone is stealing from the FBI?" she bellowed. "Oh, now that is low!"

"Yes," he agreed, "it is. Now let's leave the case to the FBI and focus on our case."

"But…"

He held up a finger. "No 'buts.' Gibbs wants something soon and if you waste all of our time ranting about this I'll tell him it's your fault that we haven't gotten any info off that cell phone."

Her eyes narrowed. "Fine," she agreed reluctantly, "but after I perform my miracle on that phone, you are going to sit down here patiently and listen to every word of my very articulate and well-prepared rant on what I'd like to do to whoever's behind all of this."

Tim could only imagine what sort of punishments Abby would dole out to anyone who stole government information; none of them seemed pleasant.


	4. Chapter 4

"We didn't get anything off the cell phone, boss," Tim said glumly when he returned to the squad room. "Abby and I went over it with a fine-toothed comb. I don't know if the chip is ruined beyond repair or if someone intentionally erased everything that was on there, but it's a dead end."

Gibbs gave him a hard look, causing Tim to look away abashedly. It wasn't that Gibbs was necessarily angry with Tim, but he was angry that they weren't having any luck, and angry at Sacks for interrupting and ruining his day; he needed to take it out on someone and Tim was the closest to him at the moment.

"Dammit, McGee!" he bellowed. "Without that cell phone we've got nothing!"

Tony, seeing a chance to exacerbate his boss' anger and avoid being on the receiving end of it, added, "I thought you were supposed to be the computer genius here, Probie. Maybe we should get Keating back up here since you appear to be useless."

"Be my guest, Tony!" Tim snapped. He was not in the mood to be the team punching bag today. He had too much on his mind. "I know other people who'd be willing to compensate me for my skills! Just don't expect me to help you when whoever you get to replace me can't even hack into the local Wal-Mart!"

"Both of you, sit down and shut it!" Gibbs ordered. His ire regarding the lack of information on the cell phone was gone and in its place was that damned nagging suspicion. What sort of people were bidding on Tim's computer skills? Gibbs got the idea that the people after him weren't hoping he'd design a webpage for them or something. That didn't leave too many other options.

Tim leaned back against his desk, folding his arms contritely. "Boss, I swear we did everything we could with that thing. It's completely clean and no one could get anything off of it."

Gibbs rubbed his eyes, nodding. "I know, McGee, I know." Why was everything piling on him today? This case, Fornell's accident, Sack's stupid theory. It felt as though the gods had conspired to make his life hell.

"So where does this leave us on the case?" asked Ziva.

"Nowhere," Tony replied. "We've got no suspects, no leads, nothing. I've got the feeling we're not going to get anywhere with this."

"You're wrong, Tony." The new voice was Abby's. She had just entered the squad room, all smiles.

"What've you got, Abbs?" asked Gibbs.

"Something for you all to see down in my lab," she replied, motioning for them to follow. Knowing better than to ask her to elaborate, the four of them stood obediently and followed.

* * *

"The hospital hasn't called," Courtney said when Agent Sacks entered the office. She had her notes on their case spread out on her desk. Beside them was the report on the explosion. She was looking between the two, hoping to find a connection.

"No surprise there," he replied as he shed his coat and placed it over his chair. "When I was there this morning the doctor said they probably wouldn't know more until tomorrow."

"How is Agent Gibbs handling the news?"

Sacks sat and pulled out his notes. "Just the way I'd expect him to. He's being very stubborn, though."

"I'm guessing he wasn't appreciative of your theory?"

"_My_ theory? You seemed to agree with me."

She shrugged. "I think you might be on to something, but I can't say I'd suspect Agent McGee in it. He doesn't seem the type."

"All the easier to get away with it," Sacks mumbled as he poured over his notes. "He probably knows how to make himself appear as harmless as possible."

Courtney frowned. In the short time she'd spent with Agent Gibbs and his team she'd found Tim to be very kind and unassuming. Nothing about him had set off any warning bells in her mind. Then again, she supposed that was what made a successful criminal. How many women, after all, had been taken in by Ted Bundy's charms? The real villains didn't cackle maniacally and twirl their handlebar mustache ala Snidely Whiplash; they were far sneakier than that. That didn't mean she liked suspecting someone she'd considered a friend, though.

"Do you think it's actually him?" she asked. "He's a great hacker, but he's not the only one in the D.C. area."

"I know that," Sacks snapped, obviously flustered by the recent turn of events. He was so accustomed to being Fornell's right hand man, he didn't quite know how to be the one in the lead. He knew Fornell was counting on him and he didn't want to let his boss down. If that meant taking on the unpleasant task of adding a guy everyone liked to his list of suspects, so be it.

"Look, I don't want to accuse the kid any more than you do. When I've had to work with NCIS in the past he was usually a nice guy. But this level of hacking…there aren't many people I know who could pull it off."

"And you're sure it's someone with government clearance?"

"Positive," he said. "Whoever this is, they know exactly what to look for and where to look."

She shook her head sadly. These days it was becoming more and more difficult to tell who was a good guy and who was a bad guy. Why couldn't it be simpler? "I don't understand how someone could do this, especially someone who has supposedly dedicated his life to keeping people safe."

"If it comes with a large enough price tag, some people are willing to do anything."

"What about computer geeks from the other agencies?" she asked.

"I've looked into that."

"Even the FBI?" she asked meekly. Courtney didn't want to point any fingers at her own co-workers, but it was a possibility they couldn't ignore.

Sacks nodded. "Even us. No one is above suspicion right now."

"What about me?" she asked with a wry smile. It was her own attempt to lighten the situation.

He responded with a half-hearted grin. "Should I have any reason to suspect you?"

Before Courtney could respond the desk phone rang. He snatched it up. "Agent Sacks."

She watched as he nodded, listening intently to whoever was on the other end of the line. "Okay," he said after a long pause. "Okay, we'll be right down."

"Well?" she asked after he hung up.

"Forensics has something for us and so does Cooper," he said as he stood.

Courtney followed suit. "Breakthrough on the case?"

"Maybe," he said with a frown. "I've got a feeling it'll be one of those good news, bad news kind of situations."

"Why is that?"

"Because if I'm right about the perp being government employed, I'm going to have to deliver bad news to one of our sister agencies."

* * *

"The cell phone was a dead end," Abby said. "No one could have gotten anything off of it."

Gibbs glowered. "Is this what you called us down here for? Because McGee's already filled us in on that."

"Patience is not your virtue, Gibbs," she replied with a smirk. "The reason I called you down here is this." She pulled up grainy video footage on her plasma. It depicted a busy D.C. intersection. With a click of a button, the video began to play, showing their dead Marine driving by in his car.

"This is the footage from the traffic camera near the parking lot where he was found," Ziva observed. "I can see the church across the way."

"You are correct," Abby said. "I know we couldn't find anything from the parking lot video camera, but then I remembered that the light at that cross-section had just installed a traffic camera to catch people who ran red lights, so I pulled the footage."

Tony peered at the screen. "There's definitely someone in the passenger seat, but the visor is blocking the person's face."

"Yes, but who says you need a face to identify someone?"

"We pulled the fingerprints from the car," Tim reminded with a small frown, "but we couldn't get a match."

Abby shook her head. "You guys can't think outside the box, can you?"

"Enlighten us, Abby," Gibbs said.

She clicked a button and zoomed in on the passenger's hands. "With the help of my cleaning program, I managed to get a nice, clear shot of these hands. Notice anything?"

The hands in question were very feminine, slim and slender with French tipped nails. On the right ring finger was a class ring with a large stone in the center. The film was black and white, so it was impossible to tell what color the stone was, but it obviously had a dark hue. More noticeable than the ring, though, was the bit of body ink that decorated the top wrist of the passenger's left hand. It was a small series of music notes encased within a heart.

"I've seen that tattoo," Ziva said. "Pvt. Claybourne's sister has the same one in the same spot. What are the odds of two people close to the Pvt. having that same tattoo?"

"She said she'd spent the day at home studying for her midterm," Tony said, referring back to his notes. "And I'll bet that's her high school class ring."

Gibbs nodded, obviously impressed. "Tony, Ziva, go pick up Elaine Claybourne. Don't tell her what we've got, though; just bring her in."

"Yes!" Abby exclaimed, pumping her fists into the air. "Now that we've solved this case, you guys can start helping the FBI figure out who's stealing information from them and who tried to murder Fornell!"

The moment the words left her lips, time halted for Tim. He saw every muscle in Gibbs' face tense, saw the man's steel blue eyes glint with anger. At an agonizingly slow rate, he watched Gibbs' lips part, saw his mouth open, saw him take a breath, and knew what he was going to say long before he uttered a syllable.

"Abby, how did you know someone was stealing from the FBI?"

* * *

FBI technician John Cooper was the very personification of nondescript. With a round, pale face, hay-colored hair, and dull brown eyes, he was the kind of person who could blend in with a crowd. And it wasn't only his looks that were bland; his voice, facial expressions, and entire demeanor almost always fell in the realm of bored. Most people attributed this to the lack of social contact he got on the job.

"Find something interesting, Cooper?" asked Sacks as he and Courtney entered.

"Could be," he answered with little to no inflection in his tone. He was currently hunched over Fornell's cell phone, fiddling with it. Surprisingly, the phone had received only a moderate amount of damage in the explosion, so there was a chance the information could be accessed.

He clicked a few keys of his keyboard and brought the phone's call log up on the screen. "I've tapped into the phone's memory. Most of the incoming and outgoing calls were agency related. Lots of calls to and from both of you and others around here. A few calls for take-out and one or two to Diane Fornell. I'm guessing that's the ex-wife."

"Yes, she is," Sacks said, becoming impatient. "Now unless you think she put a bomb in his house—which, admittedly, isn't an unlikely theory—could you get to the point?"

Cooper shrugged. "There was one number that caught my attention. There were three outgoing calls to this number and one incoming call from it. One of the calls lasted more than twenty minutes."

"Do you know what the call was about?"

For a split second, Cooper's expression changed from monotonous to sour. "It's a phone, not a tape recorder. But for twenty minutes? I'm guessing they weren't discussing the weather."

"So are you going to tell us whose number it is, or do we have to guess?"

Cooper struck another key, bringing up a name and a picture. Sacks and Courtney felt their stomachs sink. "Special Agent Timothy McGee."


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone was silent as they awaited Abby's response. Tony and Ziva were looking back and forth between Abby and Gibbs; the latter was watching her with narrowed eyes and the former was looking back with a mixture of confusion and uncertainty.

Tim was simply holding his breath.

"Abby, how did you know that?" Gibbs repeated in a low tone.

She looked at Tim; he winced. "Well, that's what McGee told me."

Rather than wait for Gibbs to turn on him, Tim jumped right in, explaining, "Boss, Abby was really frantic about the whole thing. I just wanted to calm her down so she could focus on the case, so I just said the first thing that came to my mind."

"You lied to me?" she cried incredulously.

"No," Gibbs cut in calmly, "he didn't lie to you. But he's lying to me right now."

Tony furrowed his brow, perturbed by the sudden turn of events for many reasons. "Wait, you mean that's really what's going on?" he asked. "Someone's stealing from the FBI?"

"Why did you tell us Sacks had not told you?" Ziva asked.

"Boss," Tim pleaded, "I just wanted to calm her down, really."

"So why did Sacks talk to you?" asked Tony.

"Does he have a suspect?" was Ziva's question.

Abby raised her hand amid the commotion. "Could someone tell me what's going on?"

"Tony, Ziva!" Gibbs barked. "I told you to pick up Elaine Claybourne." He turned to look at Tim, adding, "Take the stairs. The elevator is going to be out of service very soon."

Without needing to be asked, Tim slowly marched to the elevator with Gibbs in his wake. The two silently entered the elevator and Gibbs hit the button for the main floor. Then, just as the elevator began its ascent, he flipped the switch, stopping it in place, and turned angrily to Tim.

"Do you mind telling me what this is all about? And don't lie to me again, McGee."

"I just guessed that's what it was," Tim said lamely. Even he knew he didn't sound convincing.

"Not good enough, McGee. You have one minute to explain to me why I shouldn't hand you over to the FBI right now."

Tim sighed, leaning back against the wall. "It's not…I mean…" He stopped and shook his head as though that might help him speak. "I knew they were tracking a thief."

"How did you find out?"

"Fornell," he said. "It was just something he mentioned in passing when we ran into each other yesterday. I kind of figured you knew."

"And when I said that Sacks hadn't clued me in? You didn't think of letting me know?"

He shrugged. "I thought that if he hadn't told you he must have had good reason and I didn't want to interfere."

"You know why Sacks was here, McGee?" Gibbs asked in a low tone. Tim shook his head. "He was here because he's already putting together a list of suspects and you're topping the list at the moment."

At that Tim's eyes went wide, his face pale, and he began to sputter out a reply. "W-what? He…he thinks that…that _I_…but…"

Gibbs trucked right along, barely paying attention to Tim's stuttered response. "And considering the way you've been acting today I can't say I blame him! You lied to me back there, McGee; you lied to all of us! Now I can't imagine you doing that over something as simple as you and Fornell having a little chitchat."

"I'm sorry I lied."

"But it's not just that! You've been staying later than usual, been volunteering for lunch runs," Gibbs listed.

"With all due respect, boss, you've done that too."

"I know that, McGee, and until today I didn't think much of it. But what about earlier when you told Tony you knew people who would pay for your skills?"

"That was just Tony getting to me. I shouldn't have let him under my skin, but I was annoyed."

"Who exactly would like to compensate you for your skills?" Gibbs asked, not budging on the point.

"Come on, boss. I don't want to toot my own horn, but I've got a talent with computers, and I know it. I've had offers from other places now and then. Not that I'd take any of them," he added hastily. "It's just satisfying to get it in there sometimes, remind Tony that I am important to this team. That doesn't mean I'd use my skills to do anything illegal." His cheeks reddened as he remembered past orders Gibbs had given him, some of which weren't one hundred percent legal. "Well, aside from the times you told me to."

Now it was Gibbs who leaned back against the wall, arms crossed around his chest. He didn't know what to think. On the one hand he'd known Tim for seven years now and the kid had never so much as had a parking ticket. Sure he'd grown surer of his abilities and more confident, but he was still the all-American good guy, right?

On the other hand, the evidence was mounting against him. How many agency employees had those kinds of skills? Gibbs had never thought Agent Lee capable of treason and look where that assumption had gotten him. Of course, she had committed it involuntarily, but she had done it all the same, hadn't she?

"Is someone threatening you, McGee?" he asked, giving Tim the chance to confide in him, assuming he had something to confide. "Is someone threatening your sister? Your parents?"

"No," Tim said with another shake of his head, "boss, that's not it! No one is threatening me or anyone else!"

"Then why are you doing this?"

"I'm not stealing anything! I can't believe you'd even think I would!"

"Okay," Gibbs conceded with a slow nod, "then tell me what's going on."

Tim looked away. Gibbs could see his jaw tightening as he grinded his teeth; he could practically see the wheels in Tim's head turning, weighing his options. Finally, he looked back up and caught Gibbs' eyes. He opened his mouth, ready to speak…and then the elevator started again.

Gibbs looked at the emergency switch in confusion; it was still off.

The doors opened to reveal Vance standing there with Sacks and Courtney. Tony and Ziva stood behind them, watching on with concern.

"I see you're using your office again," Vance said with slight amusement.

"You install your own switch for it?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, I can't have you clogging up the elevators for hours on end, now can I?"

Gibbs stepped off, giving Sacks and Courtney a nod. Tim followed hesitantly behind him. "What's all this about?" Gibbs asked. The question was directed to Vance, but his eyes were on their FBI visitors.

"Agents Sacks and Krieger would like to speak with Agent McGee," Vance explained. He turned to them, saying, "I can set up a conference room if you'd like."

"I'd rather we set up an interrogation room," Sacks said softly. Was it Gibbs' imagination, or was there a hint of remorse in his tone?

Vance raised his eyebrows. "Is he under arrest, Agent Sacks?"

"No, Director, he's not, but I would be lying if I called this an amicable visit. We can bring him to our headquarters to speak with him if you'd rather, but I've a feeling he'd rather stay here."

All eyes went to Tim who nodded. "Yeah, let's talk here."

"Okay," Vance said, "I'll have one of the interrogation rooms cleared. This way."

As the group—Vance, Gibbs, Tim, Sacks, Courtney, and Tony and Ziva who had been relieved of the task of picking up their suspect in the other case—walked through the squad room, Tim was certain that every pair of eyes in the building were on him.


	6. Chapter 6

Tobias Fornell was in his own private hell. Though his body was unresponsive to the prodding and poking of the doctors, his mind was going at full speed as though nothing had happened. He couldn't think of torture worse than this; he wanted to talk—hell, he wanted to shout—but all he could do was lay there and wait for his body to catch up to his mind.

Did they know who had done this to him? He couldn't know for sure who it had been, but he had a damn good idea. It all came back to that case. He was the only one who knew the identity of their thief. A lot of help that knowledge was doing for him now. He could know the meaning of life itself, but it wouldn't do him much good if he could tell them, now would it?

The door to his room opened. "Hello, Agent Fornell," a female voice chirped. It was one of the nurses, the one who had introduced herself as Sally. Good. The other nurse had spent an hour venting to him about her worthless ex-boyfriend who'd had an affair with her mother and had gotten both of them pregnant or whatever. Fornell wasn't one for the Jerry Springer type drama so he'd kept praying that she'd either shut up or be called away to another patient.

"I'm not sure if you can hear me," she said, "but if you can, Agent Sacks called. He said he and your other agent would be by later to visit. He also wanted me to tell you not to worry, that they're on the case."

_That's good_, Fornell thought. _Sacks is a good agent and Krieger can hold her own_.

"You'll be happy to know that a lot of people are worried about you. We've had phone calls from lots of people, especially from the FBI. Also a couple of people from another agency called. I think it was CSI or CIS or something."

Fornell inwardly chuckled. Of course his buddies at NCIS would be worried. One of them had very good reason to want to know his condition.

"Oh, and your wife called to say she would try to bring your daughter by later today."

_My _ex-_wife_, he thought emphatically, _and I'll bet she will. When Diane says she'll do something, it means she'll do it if it doesn't interfere with her spa plans for the day or doesn't require her to exert _too_ much energy. Of course, she'll get on my back if the alimony check is even one hour late._

He heard a squeak which most likely meant Nurse Sally had taken a seat. "I'm guessing it must be lonely just lying there, huh?"

_Honey, you have no idea._

There was the sound of soft footsteps down the hall which seemed to get closer. Those footsteps entered the room. "Any response?" he heard a foreign male voice ask.

_Yes!_ he screamed in his mind. _Damn it, I can hear you! _

"Nothing yet, Doctor. Brain wave activity is showing up, but we're getting no physical reactions yet."

"I'll check in later. Let me know if anything happens."

"Yes, Doctor."

The footsteps retreated, much to Fornell's frustration. _I can hear you! I can hear everything, I just can't talk!_ He groaned inwardly. _What a time to not be able to communicate. I have to tell someone. I can't let that pencil-neck geek get away with it._


	7. Chapter 7

Sacks almost felt guilty as he sat down across the table from Tim. He was a good kid, or, at least, Sacks had always thought so until now. Maybe it was an act, but Tim looked terrified sitting there, eyes big and mouth formed into a frown. Sacks thought about having someone else interrogate him; then he remembered how Fornell had looked, lying there in the hospital bed.

This had to be done.

"You've heard about Agent Fornell, I'm sure."

Tim nodded. "How is he doing? I called the hospital earlier and they said he was stable but still in critical condition."

"Nothing has changed," Sacks assured him. "I'm surprised you called the hospital. I didn't realize you and Fornell were such good friends."

"I didn't realize I needed a reason to see how he was doing," he replied irritably. "I just thought it would be nice to check."

Sacks made a noncommittal noise, obviously not convinced. "I am also sure that Agent Gibbs has filled you in on the case Fornell has been working on recently."

Tim wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. He knew the details, but not because Gibbs had told him. Vague would be best. "I know he was tracking a hacker."

"That's right," Sacks said with a nod. "This hacker has stolen a bundle of sensitive information from the FBI. Dangerous information. The kind of information that a lot of dangerous men would pay a good amount of money for."

"Sounds like he's a dirtbag," Tim said evenly. He wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what was going on here, but he wasn't about to make any denials until Sacks made a direct accusation.

"Oh, he is. This guy is one of the dirtiest. You know why? Because I've got a hunch he's a fed, like you and me, and that really pisses me off. It's bad enough to have some scumbag lowlife breaking the law. But a federal worker? Someone with a sworn duty to serving and protecting? That's even worse."

"Yeah," Tim agreed, "I could see why that'd piss you off."

"No one likes finding out that someone they trusted has been working against them the entire time." He paused, studying Tim and gauging his physical response to the next question. "Your team had something similar about a year ago, right?"

Tim stiffened visibly.

"Agent Lee, I think her name was?" he asked, consulting his file. But that was merely for show; he knew damn well what her name had been. "She seemed like the innocent type from what I hear. Kind of a klutz, a screw-up. Timid and shy, even." He looked up, mouth twisted. "Not exactly the kind of person you'd suspect of treason, right?"

Tim shook his head.

"And yet she did commit treason, didn't she? Agent Lee stole from NCIS and killed two men to cover her tracks, isn't that right?"

"She was doing it to protect her sister," Tim said, his voice strained.

"Are you saying that made what she did right?"

"No," he said quickly, "no, it wasn't right, but it's the reason. Better that reason than doing it because of her own greed or wants." He let out a slow, steady breath and sat back in his chair. "Anyway, I don't know what Agent Lee has to do with this. She's dead and she wasn't exactly the most computer proficient person in the world, so I doubt she has anything to do with your case."

Sacks almost smiled. "You're right, she's not on our list of suspects. But I'm sorry to say, Agent McGee, that you are."

"Am I?" Tim asked, not the least bit surprised.

"Yes, and unfortunately you're climbing to the top."

"And why is that? Because I'm good with computers? It's a new age, Agent Sacks. I can point out a lot of people with good hacking abilities."

"You've got an excellent point. Computer skills are becoming almost a necessity in this day and age. But I think you'd agree with me if I said you're one of the best out there."

Even Tim couldn't deny that; his pride wouldn't let him. "You're flattering me," he said with a half-smile. "But being the best doesn't mean I'm the only one who could do something like this. I know it may seem like a daunting task to someone who's computer illiterate, but half of the guys I graduated with at MIT could probably get most of the low-level stuff from your system and at least 10 percent could get the rest."

Sacks had to admire the kid's spunk. But there was more to this, too much to ignore. He pulled something out from his file and placed it on the table before Tim. "Fornell's cell phone records," he explained.

Tim picked it up and examined it as Sacks continued. "Couldn't help but notice that you and he had exchanged a few long phone calls. I didn't even know you had each others' numbers."

"So we talked," Tim said, putting the phone records back down. "I talk to a lot of people and I'm sure Fornell does as well."

"What did you guys talk about?"

"That's private, don't you think?"

"Are you refusing to tell me?"

"No, but I don't see what difference it makes. Let's say hypothetically that I am the hacker—hypothetically," he repeated forcefully. "Do you really think I'd call Fornell up and give him a full confession?"

"Good point," Sacks conceded. "I doubt you would do that. But maybe he called you up and talked with you, hoping you'd falter and give something up."

Tim considered this. "That's a possibility, I guess. But then what reason would I have to call him?"

"Maybe you suspected he was on to you and wanted to use the same tactic on him." He looked at the records, adding, "Your call to him came only a couple of days ago. You could have realized he was closing in and started to plan how to get rid of him."

"Do you think Fornell would slip up enough to let a suspect know he was onto him?"

"Fornell's a great agent, but he's not infallible."

"Fair enough. But it's still all circumstantial."

"It is," Sacks agreed as he pulled another sheet from the file. "Phone calls aren't much. But e-mails?" He placed it once again in front of Tim. "Well, those we can read. We can see exactly what was said."

Tim looked down at the print out:

_McGee:_

_I need to talk to you. Important stuff. Get in touch with me._

_Tobias Fornell_

"Still not sure what you think this proves," Tim said dismissively. "Yeah, he contacted me and we talked."

"What'd you talk about?"

"Important stuff," he said wryly. "If he didn't tell you then he probably didn't want you to know and I'm not sure I should betray his trust like that." He started to push his chair back, saying, "I'm sorry Agent Sacks, but unless you have something that actually ties me to this case, I think you may want to wait before you accuse me of anything."

"I'm not finished, Agent McGee." Sacks placed another print out in front of Tim. "Our forensics lab did much better on the contents of Fornell's case file. I wasn't expecting them to get much from the burnt papers. A lot of it was destroyed, but they managed to find this on one of the pages."

The words were smudged and ashy, which was not surprising considering the circumstances. But even Tim couldn't deny the words that were written there in Fornell's own handwriting: _Timothy McGee_.

"I don't know how many Timothy McGees there are in the United States, but I'm sure there aren't many with your computer skills," Sacks said. "Now, I know that all of this—your abilities, the phone calls, the e-mail, your name in the case file—it's all a lot of little things." He placed all of the print outs and placed them before Tim. "But when you put them all together, they really start to add up to something big, don't they?"

Tim was silent. Then he nodded.

* * *

The observation room was stuffed more tightly than Times Square on New Years Eve. Aside from the techie who was recording the interrogation, Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, and Courtney were also there to watch. About half-way through, Abby, Ducky, and Vance had joined the group and even Jimmy had peeked in eventually.

It was shocking to say the least. Timothy McGee? The boy scout? The geek? He was being accused of treason? The very thought was laughable, though no one in the observation room was even smiling, let alone laughing.

"C'mon," Tony muttered as he watched Sacks tear into the young agent, "this is ridiculous. The only crime McGoody Goody is guilty of is scaring off attractive women. Well, that and the whole writing about us without asking permission."

"You cannot really believe McGee is responsible for all of this, can you?" Ziva asked Courtney.

She shrugged. "I don't want to believe it."

"Gibbs," Abby chided, grabbing the man's arm, "why are you letting this happen?"

"He doesn't exactly have a choice, Ms. Scuito," Vance said. "When the FBI says they want to interrogate, they interrogate. If we were to deny them that right they'd accuse us of a cover-up. That would make their case against Agent McGee all the more incriminating."

"Dr. Mallard," Jimmy whispered, "this…um…this is a joke, right? I mean…well…it's McGee!"

"I wish I could say it was, Mr. Palmer. The very idea of Timothy doing something unlawful is as preposterous as the idea of you doing something unlawful."

As the whispered words and soft chattering surrounded him, Gibbs just stood there, watching silently.

* * *

"Have you anything more to say, Agent McGee?" Sacks asked.

Tim looked up, past Sacks, and straight into the one-way mirror. Not even that could hide Gibbs' gaze. Tim knew the man was watching him. He could only imagine the look of curiosity, disappointment, and, maybe, a little worry in Gibbs' eyes as he watched the scene unfold before him.

"Agent McGee?" Sacks repeated.

Tim cleared his throat shakily. "I'd like to talk to Gibbs. Privately."


	8. Chapter 8

He didn't like the idea of letting Gibbs talk privately with Tim, but Sacks did it anyway. Fornell trusted Gibbs and, despite the fact that they never quite saw eye to eye, Sacks trusted him too. He left the interrogation room for the observation room, meeting Gibbs in transit. As requested, the talk was to be a private one. All recording equipment was turned off along with the sound. The only thing the occupants of the observation room could do was watch the exchange and hope their lip-reading skills weren't rusty.

Gibbs fell into the seat Sacks had occupied. He didn't look pleased. "You'd better tell me what the hell is going on, McGee, or I'll handcuff you and give you to the FBI myself."

"I'm sorry, boss," Tim said, head lowered. "I know you don't like hearing apologies, but I have to say it."

"Are you telling me that Sacks is on the mark with this damned accusation?"

"What? No!" Tim said as his head snapped up, eyes wide. "No, I mean I'm sorry for lying to you. I didn't want to, but Fornell made me promise not to tell anyone, including you."

"Tell anyone what?"

He sat back in his chair and exhaled a long sigh. "He came to me a couple of weeks back and asked me for help. He explained what was going on with the hacker and said he might have a theory on who it was."

"Did he give you a name?"

Tim shook his head. "All he said was that he suspected someone at the FBI and didn't want to involve anyone there just in case." He frowned. "Fornell remembered how we'd gotten Lee. Well, how you and Vance set that trap for her to try and steal Domino. He thought I might be able to do something similar."

"How so?"

"Well, there was some major stuff in the FBI database that his hacker hadn't gone after. Fornell figured it was because he didn't have the skills to get that far. But I did."

Gibbs rubbed a pressure point between his eyes. A migraine was coming on and he rarely got those. "You're going to have to explain this to me a little more, McGee."

"The hacker wants this stuff. I mean, it's information that could get him a lot of money. He just isn't a good enough hacker to get to it just yet. So Fornell wanted to dangle a worm in front of him and see if he took the bait."

"How does you hacking into the FBI help catch the perp?"

"Fornell was going to mention in passing to the guy that he'd recruited me to test the database's computer security. He let the guy know that I was going to be hacking into the system to see how far I could get without detection, so Fornell asked him to keep an eye on it and let him know if I was spotted or if I was able to get in and out without anyone ever seeing me. He made it seem like his suspect was helping in this security test, but if this guy was his hacker, he'd see my supposed security test as an easy way into the high level information. Then, if it turned out that someone else got into the system while I'd gotten in, we'd have reason to believe it was Fornell's suspect."

A hint of a smile flashed across Gibbs' face. It was a good idea, assuming it was the truth. But it wasn't without its flaw. "But would that really be enough to convict? He could always claim it a coincidence. I know I don't believe in them, but certain people, including judges and juries, do."

This time it was Tim who smiled. "There's more to it. I traded out the information with bogus Intel and added a little extra. Anyone who hacked into it would get a special virus downloaded onto his system. All we'd have to do is check his computer system."

"Wouldn't the virus be downloaded onto your system too?"

Tim ducked his head down abashedly. "Well, yes. That's why I used my old CCU computer. I knew no one else had used it since I left and the systems down there are secure enough to keep it from spreading until I had a chance to get down there and clear it out."

"And if the suspect managed to clear out the system before you and Fornell have a chance to check it?"

"He wouldn't even know it's there, at least not at first. And once he found out it would take some doing to get rid of it. Clearing out a virus isn't like vacuuming your carpet. It's time consuming and requires quite a bit of knowledge and skill."

Tim leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "It was supposed to have been the perfect plan," he said glumly.

Gibbs grimaced. "There's no such thing."

"Yeah, I know," Tim said with a nod. "I guess Fornell's suspect must have caught on. Now he's incapacitated and I've become the number one suspect."

"Can't you just check the FBI's systems for the virus?"

He shook his head. "That would take too long. And even if I did happen to find it, I'd need Fornell to corroborate my story. Otherwise, whoever's computer it was could claim I was trying to frame him to escape suspicion."

Gibbs frowned. This was a tough spot and he couldn't imagine how he was going to get Tim out of it.

"I'm sorry," Tim repeated softly. "I never thought it'd happen like this. And I know I should have told you, but Fornell made me swear I wouldn't. Though, I guess considering the circumstance, he won't mind me telling you now."

"I think he's got other things to worry about right now," Gibbs agreed. "But then so do we. Sacks has still got your number and I don't think your story will sway his opinion much. We need to figure out who Fornell suspected." A thought entered his mind and he didn't hesitate to articulate it. "You don't think it was Sacks or Krieger, do you?"

"No," Tim said firmly. "Fornell specifically referred to his suspect as a 'he' and Sacks doesn't have the computer skills to pull something like this off. Besides, he may be a pain in the ass, but I don't think he's a thief."

That much Gibbs agreed with.

"I screwed things up," Tim said glumly. "Now I'm not sure what to do."

"Well, you're going to have to start by telling Sacks all of this."

"Yeah, like he's going to believe a thing I say."

"He may believe more than you think," Gibbs said, though without much conviction. "Besides, it's better than nothing."

After a moment of consideration, Tim slowly nodded. "Okay, I'll talk to him. I can't really claim to have been uninvolved in this entire thing."

Gibbs pushed his seat back and stood to retrieve Sacks. He turned to the observation room and motioned for Sacks to join them. Then he turned back to Tim and said, "It's not a hopeless situation, McGee. Fornell's still hanging in there and he's too stubborn to let a scum bag get away with this. Once he comes to and tells his story, you'll be in the clear and the only one who'll need to worry will be the real hacker."

* * *

"You expect me to believe that Fornell recruited you to help him catch the hacker and that's why your name was in the case file?" Sacks asked skeptically after Tim reiterated this story. It wasn't completely unlikely, but he was wary. "And no one else knows about this?"

"Well, Fornell does," Tim replied uncomfortably, "but…well…you know."

Sacks raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. So the only other person who knew about this can't back you up at the moment. That's awfully convenient."

"That doesn't mean it isn't true," Gibbs put in.

"No, it doesn't, but I can't really take your man's word about what happened."

It was on the tip of his tongue to assert the fact that Tim had never lied to him; then Gibbs recalled the recent day's events. That was no longer true. "McGee is a trustworthy man. If that's what he says happened, then I believe him."

"Would you believe him if he wasn't your man, though?" Sacks asked. "If he were just someone you had brought in for interrogation, would you just blindly follow whatever he said?"

He had a point there and Gibbs knew it. He was giving Tim credit because he'd known him and his character. "No," he said truthfully, "but I'd give his claim weight. I wouldn't just dismiss it as being a lie."

"Fair enough. I don't claim it's not the truth. But it's still speculative and too dependant on the word of a comatose man." He gathered up the contents of the case file and stood. "I'll investigate further, but until then I'm assigning two agents to keep an eye on your man to make sure he doesn't try to skip town."

Tim looked up with an annoyed face. "I'm not going to skip town. I'll give you my passport if you don't trust me."

"Agent McGee, I want nothing more than to believe that to be true, but I can't make exceptions just because you're on Agent Gibbs' team. I'm being kind by letting you know they'll be watching you at all. Don't try to shake them or I'll have no choice but to bring you in. Agent Krieger and I will continue investigating the entire case, but you're still a suspect."

With nothing more to say, Sacks exited the room and met Courtney in the hall. Tony, Ziva, and Abby were also there, all three staring him down with narrowed eyes. He ignored them as they walked away. He filled Courtney in when they got into the car.

"Well, that makes sense," she said optimistically. "McGee is good with computers and Fornell needed someone like him. I think I may have even made an off-hand suggestion to him about it."

"It's an interesting story," Sacks agreed, "but right now that's all it is: a story. It's McGee's word against the evidence, and the evidence it pretty high."

"You said yourself you didn't think he was capable of this kind of thing."

"I know what I said," he snapped. "But I can't just let it go, even if I want to. Fornell is counting on us right now and if I let a perp go just because I didn't think him capable of crime I don't know that I'd ever be able to forgive myself." He pulled the car out into traffic, speeding up as though it would reduce his stress.

"So what do we do now?" Courtney asked softly.

"We do what we're paid to do, Krieger. We investigate."

* * *

**AN:** Thank you all for the lovely reviews! I truly appreciate them! There's more to come, though. Things are only going to get harder from here...


	9. Chapter 9

The team assembled in a conference room immediately following the FBI agents' departure. Tim was seated at the head of the table and along the rest of the table sat Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, Abby, and Ducky, situated on either side, with Vance at the other end. No one had been told the entire story, so everyone was interested in hearing what was really going on.

"What does Sacks know anyway?" Tony asked, trying to lighten the mood. "That guy wouldn't know guilty if it smacked him in the face."

"Be that as it may, Agent DiNozzo, I'd like to hear what the hell is going on before I write off Agent Sack's theory as a wild and unfounded accusation." Vance ended that statement with a pointed look at both Gibbs and Tim.

Gibbs kick-started the conversation. "McGee was asked by Fornell to help catch the FBI's hacker. It was all kept under wraps because Fornell suspected an FBI employee."

"I helped him set a trap," Tim elaborated further. "It was like a security test, only it was bait for the hacker."

"Can anyone other than Agent Fornell verify this story?"

Tim shook his head grimly. "It was a secret op."

Vance flipped his toothpick around in his mouth, a sign that he wasn't pleased with the current situation. Granted, no one was really pleased at the moment. "So all we have to go on is your word?"

"Are you saying you do not believe him? Ziva asked.

"No, I believe him, but I'm not the one he needs to convince. If we're going to get the FBI off his back, we'll need a bit more than this. Give me the long story, Agent McGee. Tell me when Fornell contacted you, where you met, everything."

And so Tim dove into his story once more, beginning with Fornell's initial contact and working his way through the plan. "I came in last night, the night we'd agreed on. I used my old computer in the Cyber Crimes Unit and hacked into the system. I downloaded the info and kept my eyes peeled for another cyber presence."

"Was there another person hacking into the system?"

Tim nodded. "Someone else was there. He waited until I'd gotten through the firewall and used the hole I'd made to get in."

"Can't you just get the ISP or whatever and trace the source?" Tony asked.

"It's not that simple. This guy may not be the best hacker, but he's good enough that he's escaped detection this long. I could run a back trace, but it would probably be a waste of time."

"So he gets away, just like that?" Abby asked.

"Without Fornell we don't have a specific suspect, and even if we did it would be his word against mine." He sat back with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "We're at a dead end."

"No," Gibbs disagreed, "not a dead end. We've just hit a bump in the road."

"What do we do next, boss?" asked Tony.

"Let's work off Fornell's initial theory that this hacker is FBI. Ziva, check out the FBI staff, see what you can dig up."

"It would help if we had access to their file on the case." Tony said dourly.

"We do, DiNozzo," Vance interrupted. "At least, we will. I convinced the bureau that, due to the nature of the case, we should have access to the file on both the hacker and the explosion. Not sure when it'll be here, but hopefully soon."

"Abby, when they get here, I want you to take a look. Especially focus on the explosive and how it was made. DiNozzo, you read the statements taken from Fornell's neighbors. If necessary, interview them again. Ducky, I want you to put together a psychological profile on this hacker. Tell me everything you can about this guy."

"I'll do my best, Jethro, though what we have is not much to go on."

"What about me, boss?" Tim asked. He was dying to get in on this, to not only exonerate himself, but to help catch the man who was abusing his computer skills.

"I don't want you working this case, McGee." Gibbs knew that wasn't the answer Tim wanted to hear, but, unfortunately, it was the answer he had to give, for everybody's benefit. "Anything you find is compromised evidence."

Tim frowned. "What if I'm not directly involved? I know I can help everyone else."

"It will be easier for me to sift through the contents of the case file if McGee helps," Abby jumped in. "I'll be with him the entire time, so if we find something I can vouch for it."

Ziva nodded. "McGee's knowledge of the case may prove to be very useful."

"Well, I don't know much Ziva."

"That's still more than we know, Probie."

All eyes went to Gibbs. He shrugged in response. "Doesn't bother me. Just make sure someone is with him at all times."

"Anything else?" Vance asked.

"How long do you think you can keep the FBI at bay?"

He grinned. "Oh, I'm sure I can wrap them in enough red tape to keep them away for at least a day or two."

"Alright!" Tony said with a pump of his fist. "Another exciting mole hunt, only better: this time it's an FBI mole! Hands in!" he exclaimed, slamming his hand down flat in the center of the table. Catching the various looks his co-workers were giving him, he slowly removed it, sheepishly adding, "Or we could just go do our jobs."

Vance nodded. "I think that would be best, Agent DiNozzo."

"Meeting adjourned," Gibbs announced.

* * *

Over at the FBI headquarters, Sacks and Courtney had come to a similar conclusion. "Let's say it's not McGee," Sacks theorized as they shared a desk, the contents of their case files spread out before them. "If the kid is on the level with this story, that means the hacker is one of our computer geeks here."

"Doesn't exactly narrow it down," she replied pessimistically. "At least half of last year's recruits had excellent computer skills."

"So we've got a nice long list ahead of us. Great."

Before they could continue their dour discussion of the case, there was a knock at the door. "Come in," Sacks said.

John Cooper peeked in. "I've got the information from Fornell's computer," he said, offering a manila folder to them. Sacks took it without a word and placed it beside his own case file. "Oh, and the hospital called. They said Agent Fornell still isn't talking, but his fingers started to move a bit on their own. They're still not sure how soon he'll come out of it, if at all, but I thought you'd want to know." Having done what he came to do, he turned to leave.

"Cooper," Sacks bellowed, stopping him in the doorway. "I want you to check out another computer for us. An NCIS agent named Timothy McGee."

"Do you have the computer?"

"No, but I'll get a warrant to search his work and personal computers." He recalled something Tim had said when he'd explained the supposed plot Fornell had put together. "Also make sure to check his old computer in the Cyber Crimes Unit over there."

"What exactly am I looking for?"

"Any signs that he'd been in the FBI server and had downloaded any sensitive information. Well, except for last night."

"Right," Cooper said with a nod. "Get me the warrant and I'll get write on that." He closed the door without another word, leaving the special agents to continue their investigation.

Sacks flipped open the file. "Looks like that was the only e-mail Fornell sent to McGee and McGee never sent one back. No other notes on the case, aside from what we already knew."

"Too bad Fornell wasn't more computer dependant." Courtney immediately winced at here choice of word and corrected herself. "I mean, too bad he _isn't_ more computer dependant."

The implications of what she'd said hung in the air between them.

* * *

John Cooper ducked into the bathroom and was relieved to see it was empty. He let out a long breath and turned on the faucet. He let the water pool into his cupped hands and splashed it on his face. When Sacks had called him back he'd been sure the agent knew something. But no, he was clueless, just like everyone else.

"Everyone except Fornell," he muttered as he dried off.

When Fornell had told him about the security test, Cooper had suspected it was a trap, but that hadn't stopped him from going for it. The opportunity was just too sweet to pass up. He'd already decided that Fornell was a loose end that had to be cut.

Unfortunately, that loose end was still dangling. What were the odds of Fornell surviving that explosion? Certainly not ones he'd bet on. Granted, Fornell wasn't out of the weeds yet and with every hour he spent incapacitated the more chance there was he wouldn't recover from it. Besides, a cord or tube could come undone easily enough. It might even look like an accident. Fornell wasn't the one he had to worry about now.

Timothy McGee. They suspected him, Cooper could tell. And why not? He had the skills and the access and he couldn't deny the fact that he'd hacked into the system the night before. But how much evidence did they have and was it enough to pin the crime on him?

Cooper gave himself one last look in the mirror and strolled calmly out of the bathroom. Timothy McGee was the ideal scapegoat, especially now that he'd have access to his computers. Build up just enough evidence that the FBI would look his way and then make it so that the guy never got a chance to tell his side of the story.

The guy would never talk, Cooper would see to that.


	10. Chapter 10

The FBI presented the warrants to NCIS and Vance had no choice but to let them test Tim's computers. Sacks already knew about Tim hacking into the FBI the previous night, so there was nothing to hide. He assigned an agent to follow the tech and FBI agent who'd arrived and let them head on down to the CCU. Meanwhile, the MCRT was also working studiously.

"Got anything, Duck?" Gibbs asked as he entered autopsy with Tim, Tony, and Ziva in tow.

"As I said, Jethro, I have little to go on. However, based on what I have seen of the case file, I get the feeling this hacker is not only going after the information to make money, but also for his own personal glory."

"He wants to show off," Tim said.

"Quite right. Worse, he wants to make fools of the FBI, make them appear incompetent. Perhaps it is some sort of revenge tactic."

"You think the FBI pissed him off in the past?" Tony asked. "Maybe Fornell arrested his brother or parents or something."

"It's possible, but doubtful. If this were a vendetta against one particular agent our hacker would most likely target him directly. This seems like more of an all-encompassing revenge on the agency."

"Someone who wanted to be one of them." It was Ziva who offered that theory. "Perhaps our hacker has a bruised ego from having been turned down in the past."

Gibbs slowly began to nod. "He can't join them so he hacks them."

"But then what about Sacks' suspicion that it was someone who _was _a part of the agency?" Tim asked with a frown.

"He could still be in the agency, just not in the job he wanted."

"Well, he's an egghead," Tony said, "but maybe he wanted a more dangerous position. Maybe he wanted to be a special agent but flunked out of FLETC."

"That's a good theory, Tony. Go follow up on it, see what you can find."

"Right," he said as he left, bringing Ziva with him. Only Gibbs and Tim remained behind.

"Got anything else, Duck?"

"Well, I think our hacker has a short temper and a violent one at that, as we can see in his attempt to murder Agent Fornell. He may also be quite keen and clever, far more so than even the FBI knows. I think they and we should tread carefully."

Gibbs nodded before turning with Tim following suit. "We'll be careful," he promised.

"They're looking through my computers," Tim said as they entered the elevator. He jabbed the button for the ground floor and the car jumped into motion.

"I know. But Sacks already knows about last night. You didn't hack their system any other times, did you?" Gibbs asked, slightly suspicious. He hated feeling this way, especially since Tim had been exonerated, at least in his mind. But still, the very idea that Tim would lie to him in the first place, or would even obstruct the truth, it was such a foreign idea to him. He couldn't help but wonder how many other times Tim had managed to lie to him in the past.

"No," Tim said forcefully. "No, the only time I hacked them was last night. Well, not the _only_ time," he said sheepishly, recalling the many times Gibbs himself had ordered him to hack the FBI, "but it was the only time that I downloaded any classified information."

Gibbs nodded. "Then we've got nothing to worry about with that."

Tim hoped he was right.

* * *

"Feeling any better, Agent Fornell?"

It was Sally. She was back with medicine to put in his IV. If his eyes had been open Fornell would have also seen two very familiar and welcome faces. "You have some visitors," she said, opening the tube connected to his IV bag. She added the new medicine and reattached the tubes. To the visitors she said, "You have twenty minutes," before leaving them alone.

"Hello, Agent Fornell," Courtney said timidly as she and Sacks took seats beside the bed. Fornell inwardly sighed with relief. He only wished he could actually speak.

"We're still working the case, Fornell," Sacks assured him. "Your notes were kind of incinerated, but we have enough from our own notes that we think we're well on track." That wasn't completely true, but he wanted Fornell to think they were further ahead than they were.

Courtney nodded. "We've got a couple of suspects in mind, but nothing definite." That was another lie, but they had decided not to disclose their suspicion of Tim just yet. It's not like Fornell could exactly answer them and no official accusations had been made against him. "We think we're closing in, though."

_You two should be focusing on Cooper_, he thought, _he's the hacker_. It was frustrating to be on the verge of this, but still falling short. What if Cooper took the information he'd stolen and sold it to some of the worst people in the world? What if people got hurt or killed, all while he laid there unresponsive. If he survived this thing, he'd never be able to live with himself if something terrible happened on his watch.

"The lab is going over the explosive," Sacks told him. "It was pretty low grade stuff, which was lucky for you."

_Yeah? Well, I don't feel too lucky right now, Sacks_.

"The doctors say you're looking good. You're improving and they think there's a really good chance you'll come out of this soon."

_I'm out of it, I'm out of it, you just can't tell_, Fornell inwardly groaned. _Have you been to NCIS? Have you talked to McGee yet? _

"I wish you could tell us something, anything," Sacks said with a frown. Beneath Fornell's closed eyelids, there was movement. Was he aware of what was being said? "Maybe later though, huh?"

_Sacks, I've got a _lot_ to tell you, if my damn body would just let me._

* * *

"Got anything, Cooper?" the very bored FBI Agent Miller asked. He wasn't even trying to hide his disdain at having to "baby-sit some egghead," as he'd put it. As far as he could tell this was just one big waste of time.

Cooper fidgeted in the seat. "Um, nothing yet." He hadn't thought about having someone from the FBI accompany him during his search, nor had he thought about NCIS also providing an escort, but now he realized he should have. Of course, NCIS wasn't going to let him walk around the building all alone. He was FBI, an outsider, and they didn't trust outsiders. _And with good reason_, he thought wryly.

The plan had been so simple in his head. He'd "check" Agent McGee's computers and stealthily upload the information he'd stolen. Then, he'd claim to have found it, thus further incriminating the NCIS agent. McGee may have been asked by Fornell to help catch him, but Fornell obviously hadn't told him just who he'd been helping to catch. If he had, Cooper would probably be in interrogation right now. As long as he could throw enough suspicion on someone else, he might just get through this.

But damn it, he needed a few minutes alone!

Agent Edes' phone began to ring. He was the agent assigned by Vance to stay with their FBI visitors during their stay. "Hello?" he said.

"Agent Edes," Vance greeted, "I need you to go out and pick up a suspect over in Norfolk."

"What about our FBI buddies down here?" he asked, giving Cooper and the agent pointed looks.

"We're stretched thin as it is. I think we can send someone down there in about ten minutes, but you're relieved of your duties."

Edes flipped the phone closed, shooting the pair a broad grin. "Looks like you boys will be on your own for a few minutes. I trust you can handle that?"

Cooper didn't look up, but he grinned inwardly. Agent Miller just scowled in jealousy as Edes stepped onto the elevator. What he wouldn't give to get out of this drafty basement. It looked like the kind of place video game and computer game geeks sat when they played, only it was cleaner, smelled better, and there were no nagging parents shouting down to them to get a job.

"Are you almost done?" he asked, sounding not unlike a restless child.

"Sacks asked me to do a thorough search. It can take a while."

Miller leaned against the wall, arms crossed. He'd drawn the short straw this time. "Do you know how many other places I'd rather be right now?"

"So go," Cooper retorted. "You're not helping with your incessant whining."

It was an inviting thought, but he knew if Sacks found out he'd disobeyed an order, he'd have his ass handed to him.

Still, Sacks hadn't said he had to stay with Cooper the entire time. They'd been at it for two hours already and he hadn't gotten a chance to eat breakfast that morning. Now his stomach was beginning to rumble. Hadn't he seen a vending machine when they'd come in? Surely he could afford to leave for a few minutes to grab a snack? His stomach grumbled in agreement.

"Okay, I am running upstairs to grab something to eat. I'll be back in, like, ten minutes. Think you can spend that long on your own?"

"I'm sure I'll manage," Cooper said sarcastically. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Miller stepped onto the elevator. After the doors had closed, he counted to ten and then slipped the flash drive from his pocket. _Finally_, he thought triumphantly as he pulled up the contents of the flash drive. It would only take a few minutes, though he got the feeling Miller would dawdle as long as he could before returning.

Soon enough, Cooper had loaded the files onto the computer. He was about to remove the flash drive and call Sacks to tell him what he'd "found," but then he had a thought. This computer probably had access to classified information and it was right there at his fingertips. That could sweeten the pot a bit, maybe even throw more suspicion on Agent McGee. Getting here would save him the trouble of having to hack into their system.

He didn't even think twice as he began to download the information. The elevator doors dinged open once more only seconds after he'd slipped the drive into his pocket. Miller stepped off with a Coke and a bag of chips. "Almost done?" he asked hopefully.

"Call Sacks," Cooper instructed. "Looks like we've got something here."


	11. Chapter 11

"This is good work, Cooper," Sacks said as he looked over the evidence Cooper had just handed over to him. It was the most incriminating thing they'd found on Tim and he now had grounds to take him in. So why did he feel so apprehensive?

"It does look pretty bad for Agent McGee," Courtney agreed, a frown set on her lips as well.

Gibbs stood behind them, arms crossed, and remained expressionless. "Don't tell me you've still got McGee on your suspect list."

"Why would you think he wasn't? So far he's the only lead we've got on this thing."

"Except he told us that Fornell recruited him specifically for the purpose of finding the hacker."

Cooper rolled his eyes. "That's assuming he's even telling the truth about that. For all we know he made that up when he realized he'd been found out. Fornell's in a coma and your man knows he can't tell Agents Sacks and Krieger otherwise, so it's a good way out."

"Until Fornell comes to and say he's been lying," Gibbs shot back, glaring at Cooper. He couldn't hide his disdain for the FBI tech and he didn't even attempt to. "The story can only hold up for so long."

"_If_ he comes to," Cooper was quick to point out.

"You sure seem certain he won't," Tony replied bitingly. "The doctors said they had high hopes."

By now Cooper's face was beginning to grow slightly red and his cool demeanor almost cracked. "I'm not saying it's definite," he said in a strained tone. He wasn't going to let some FBI-wannabes bait him this way. He was smarter than that, smarter than _them_. "I'm just trying to be realistic here. It's not my fault your man's been sneaking this stuff right under your nose."

That elicited an angry stare from Gibbs. "Agent McGee hasn't done anything wrong, and I'll defend that statement to my damned death."

"Evidence doesn't lie."

"No, but people do."

Cooper felt his heart skip a beat. What he wouldn't give to smack Gibbs across the face with a keyboard right now. Slap that sneer right off his face. And Agent DiNozzo's too. He'd liked to ram his head into a monitor. It wasn't just them questioning him and obviously trying to rile him up; it was that they obviously thought themselves so superior to him. And why? Because they had badges and got to carry a gun? Cooper felt a chuckle build up in the back of his throat. He didn't need a gun to do damage.

All of them, so smug in their place and so sure he was beneath them. Gibbs, DiNozzo, Sacks, Krieger, that Israeli woman who rounded out Gibbs' team…they weren't better than him. Hell, they probably wouldn't be able to turn on a computer without him and the other eggheads their agencies hired for that specific purpose. They'd be lost without the geeks to step in and bring them out of the Stone Age. And yet the geeks—the really important ones—were the ones pushed to the back, the ones who never got the praise or the glory.

Except, of course, for Agent Timothy McGee.

Cooper suddenly realized how intensely he hated the man who he'd never even met. He hated him even more than he hated the others because he was an egghead too, but he'd somehow been lucky enough to make it as a special agent. He got to have the best of both worlds: the intelligence and the glory. It wasn't fair! How dare he be allowed to survive as a geek among jocks when Cooper wasn't able to? He should be in the basement with the other geeks, staring at endless amounts of code and working only with numbers and equations and computers.

And so he hated him…because Timothy McGee was the agent he'd never get to be.

"All I'm saying is that I'm not convinced!"

Gibbs' bellowed comment pulled Cooper from his internal thoughts of loathing. He hadn't even noticed Sacks and Gibbs standing toe-to-toe. Their respective co-workers were ready to intervene if things should take a turn for the worst. Cooper, though, hoped they went for each other's throats and that he got a front row seat for it.

"How much more do you need?" Sacks asked angrily. "I'm sorry we don't have a signed note from him saying, 'I did it,' but at the moment I think what we've got is pretty concrete."

Gibbs frowned deeply, but he didn't respond.

"Now if you don't mind—actually, even if you _do_ mind—I think it would be in our best interest to take Agent McGee into custody."

That almost made Cooper lose his blasé expression. They couldn't take him into custody yet. The plan was to make it look like a suicide and he'd never be able to do that while Tim was at the FBI headquarters.

"Do you really think that's necessary?" Tony asked.

"Considering the circumstances, DiNozzo, wouldn't you do the same thing?"

Courtney had remained quiet up to this point, but she timidly stepped forward. "This is still pretty flimsy," she told Sacks. "What if we released him into NCIS custody for now? Let's see how Fornell does. I'd hate to make a mistake in this case."

Sacks looked to Gibbs and Tony. "Can we trust you two to keep him in custody?"

"We'll have him hand over his passport and credit cards to you if you'd like."

He nodded. "Fine. He's free to go…for now. But if something goes wrong, it'll be on your ass, not mine."

The three FBI employees left, Sacks looking straight ahead, Courtney giving Gibbs and Tony sympathetic looks, and Cooper staring intently at the floor lest he should make eye contact with the NCIS agents and have them see in his eyes how much he hated them.

They entered the elevator and Sacks jabbed the button angrily. "Why did it have to be one of Gibbs' men?" he asked aloud, not expecting an answer. "If it had been anyone else at NCIS they'd be handcuffed in the back of our car and on their way to answer a few questions."

"You can't blame Agent Gibbs for being protective," Courtney said softly. "You'd do the same for Fornell or me, and we would too."

She's right and Sacks can't argue that. "I think the biggest problem is that I can't believe it myself. Agent McGee's hacked every government agency you can think of in the past six years, all times on Gibbs' command. If he wanted to steal, why didn't he do it then?"

"Maybe he hadn't worked up the nerve until now," Cooper suggested. "Or maybe he was afraid the times of the thefts would match up too closely with the times his boss told him to hack into your system."

"Do you think we made a mistake by not taking him in?" Sacks asked Courtney. It was as though he hadn't even heard the man. Cooper narrowed his eyes as the anger bubbled up.

Courtney shrugged. "I trust NCIS to keep an eye on him even if they don't think he's guilty."

"As long as you've got his passport and credit cards it should be fine," Cooper butted in again. "He wouldn't be able to get far." Again his comments were ignored as the elevator opened and Sacks and Courtney stepped off.

He followed behind, all the while thinking of how much he hated them.

* * *

Tim rested his face in his hands. This entire thing had become such a nightmare so quickly. He'd only been trying to help, and look where that had gotten him. No good deed goes unpunished.

Surrendering his passport had been no big deal as he had no intention of leaving the country any time soon. But giving up his credit cards? That had been a bit tougher. He used them so often, it was like giving up his driver's license. He hoped he wouldn't have to do without them for very long, but if that was what it took to prove his innocence, so be it.

"Grande cappuccino with no foam," the barista said, resting the steaming cup in front of him. Tim handed him a five dollar bill and took the cup. He was on a quick coffee run. Gibbs had said he looked like he could use some caffeine and had ordered him out. Tim, though, knew it was because he had nothing else to do. In light of the new information, he couldn't really help with the case without further piquing the FBI's suspicions. All he could do was wait until the break came, and they all hoped that would be soon at this point.

Coffee in hand, he stepped out onto the street and walked back to NCIS. That was when his cell phone began jingling in his pocket. "Hello?" he greeted.

"Hello, Agent McGee," a nervous voice responded. "I know you're having some trouble with this whole thing."

Tim frowned. "Who is this?"

"Oh, this is John Cooper with the FBI. I'm their tech guy."

The frown deepened. "So you're the reason I had to forfeit my passport and credit cards, huh? Well, thanks for that. Maybe next you'll get them to put an electronic ankle bracelet on me or something."

"No, you don't understand," Cooper said quickly. "See, I think you're innocent. Fornell had me helping on this thing too and I'm sure I would have noticed if the hacker were accessing the database from NCIS."

"I'm listening."

"Well, I thought maybe I could help you."

"Help me how?"

"Figure out a way to prove your innocence and find the real hacker. Two heads are better than one, right?"

Tim turned the corner at a supermarket and leaned back against the wall of the building. "Thank you for offering, but my team doesn't really like working with outsiders."

"I noticed as much. But do you really think your team can get the job done?"

"Of course! I trust my team."

Cooper sighed in frustration on the other end. "Look, I don't doubt they're capable, but you seem to be the computer guy on the team. How can they track a hacker when they don't even know what they're looking for?"

It was a good point. Aside from Abby, none of them knew anything about cyber crimes. They knew how to chase down a bad guy and shoot guns, but computers were not their forte.

"Let's get together tonight and talk," Cooper suggested. "It'll be just you and me. I think I'd be an asset to you on this." Tim was silent on the other end, spurring Cooper on. "Don't you think you should take control of your own fate, here? If they fail it'll be your ass on the line, not theirs."

Tim took a deep breath and slowly nodded, though Cooper couldn't see him. "Where should we meet?"

On the other end Cooper grinned. "How about your place?"


	12. Chapter 12

Cooper approached the apartment with a box of pizza, a bottle of wine, and a smirk of relief. Somehow the fates had conspired with him and this was turning out to be easier than he thought it would be. Soon he would have tied up all his loose ends and would be able to breathe a sigh of relief. And then what would he do? The FBI didn't deserve his talents, of that he was certain. He had hacked them just to show them he could and show them how wrong they'd been, even if they would never know it had been him. _He_ knew it and that was all that mattered. Now that he was finished with them, why not earn a little dough with the information? He could use the money he'd make to get out of this stupid city and stupid country and go somewhere he'd be appreciated.

He knocked at the apartment door. "Coming," a voice called from the other side. Cooper felt his stomach churn when he heard that voice. He loathed it.

It hadn't been too difficult to talk Tim into meet with him. They'd never met and Tim had no way of knowing that he'd done a lot to convince Sacks and Courtney that he was guilty. Besides, they were both geeks and this was a geek kind of crime, so naturally it would be best for him to help Tim in this. After persuading him of that, Cooper made the recommendation that they meet at Tim's place, even offering to provide the food and booze. Tim hadn't questioned him for even a second.

_Some special agent he is_, Cooper thought snidely. If those were the kinds of supposed geniuses who got hired at NCIS he was glad he'd gone for the FBI instead, even if they did hate him

The door swung open and Tim was standing there looking a bit weary, but smiling. "Hey, you must be Cooper."

"Uh, yes, but you can call me John," Cooper said as he entered.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Tim agreed with a grimace. "It's kind of annoying when you're always referred to by your last name. Oh, can I take that?" he asked, reaching for the pizza box that was precariously perched atop Cooper's open palm. He plucked it up and placed it on his kitchen counter while Cooper placed the wine right next to it.

"Should I open the wine?" he asked, searching for a corkscrew.

Tim waved him off. "No, let's discuss the case so far. You know, compare notes and everything."

Cooper hid his disdain and bit back a sigh of frustration. In its place he plastered a fake smile on his face. "Sure, let's do that. What have you got so far?"

Tim grabbed the seats from his computer and writing desks. He situated them near the counter, took one, and gestured for Cooper to take the other. "Sorry it's not more comfortable. Between work at NCIS and my writing, I don't have much time to re-decorate."

Cooper maintained his pleasant demeanor as he took a seat, but inside he was fuming. Timothy McGee was a celebrated writer; he'd forgotten that bit of information. It only made him hate Tim more. "No worries," he said.

"So I know whoever this guy is, he works for the FBI."

"Oh?" Cooper asked levelly. "How do you know that?"

"Fornell told me when he asked me to help set the trap. Well, he said it was a suspicion," Tim conceded, "but considering what happened to him I'm guessing it was a good suspicion. Anyway, our medical examiner put together a psychological profile for us."

Cooper raised an eyebrow. "That's a strange task for a medical examiner."

"Well, Ducky also does psychological work for us."

"And what'd he have to say about our hacker?"

"Ego issues for a start. He seems to resent the FBI special agents, most likely because he wasn't good enough to be one of them. So now he's lashing out the only way he knows how."

Though the anger bubbled up in his stomach, Cooper kept his face plain. Who cares what some NCIS pseudo-doctor thought of him? He was getting the last laugh, wasn't he?

"I'm guess this guy has a superiority complex and thinks he's better than everyone else. Not getting to be a special agent was a blow to his sensitive ego and knocked him down a few pegs, though he probably needed it. But instead of looking at the lack of skills that kept him from achieving his goal, he blames everyone else for his failures. Obviously, he's a pathetic guy with major problems."

_Only two problems at the moment_, he thought as he raged internally. _And I _am_ better than everyone else. You're the one who's pathetic_. But again, he showed no emotion. Instead, he imagined watching Tim slowly breathe his last breath.

"We also suspect he's a guy with a short fuse. Definitely the kind of guy who lashes out violently when things don't go his way. He's a dangerous one, as I'm sure Fornell can attest to."

At that, Cooper grinned. _Agent McGee, you have no idea._

* * *

Sally Sullivan was on her way to check on Fornell before going home for the night. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be in a coma. Must be terrible, being trapped in your own body with no way of communicating.

She didn't know all of the details of what had happened, only what she'd read in the paper. But she knew the FBI had a suspect (she'd overheard those Sacks and Courtney talking about it with Fornell). _Hopefully whoever did this will get what he has coming_, she thought as she entered the room. It was sad to see someone like this, especially a father who had dedicated his life to protecting the safety of others.

"Good evening, Agent Fornell," she greeted. "Just wanted to make sure everything was okay before I left. Cameron will be on duty when I leave, but I've left her strict instructions on your medicine."

She adjusted his IV. "Your agents called again for a status report. We've told them nothing's changed, but you know, I've got a good feeling about you. I've seen people in far worse condition come out of it. Just keep in there."

It was late, so the hospital was almost desolate. Aside from the beeping of the machines in Fornell's room, Sally couldn't hear anything else. That is, until she turned to leave.

"Mmmm…"

Sally stopped in her tracks. "Agent Fornell?" she asked as she neared his bed. "Was that you?"

"Mmmm…" he repeated. Even more miraculous than his audible groan was the way his eyelids flickered and slowly opened. It took some doing on his part the make them stay up, but he finally pried them open. His eyes immediately flicked to Sally's face which held a mixture of shock and joy.

"Agent Fornell! You…you're awake! Can you understand me? Blink once for yes."

He blinked.

"Can you feel anything?"

Again, he blinked.

Sally noticed a little movement in his fingers. He was trying to lift his hand but was having difficulty. She placed her hand atop of his. "It's okay, don't push it. You've been comatose and it'll take a little bit before you're able to move."

He made an unintelligible sound and moved his head slightly to the side. They needed to get this tube out of his mouth and get it out now.

But Sally wasn't paying attention. Instead, she summoned the doctor to come quickly. "We'll get everything settled!" she gushed excitedly. "It'll take some doing, but this is a great sign!"

"Owf," he gurgled.

"What?"

"Owf," he repeated, looking down at the tube. "C…per"

Sally shook her head. "I'm sorry, Agent Fornell, I don't understand."

"C…per..." he repeated with as much force as he could manage.

She furrowed her brow. "Look, the doctor will be here soon. Can this wait?"

_No, damn it! _he thought angrily. _I need to tell you now!_


	13. Chapter 13

Cooper was beginning to lose his patience. He and Tim had been discussing the case for almost an hour now and Tim hadn't touched the food or wine. "Guess I'm just not interested in food right now," he'd said sheepishly.

"No wine either?" Cooper asked. He hoped he wasn't visibly sweating. After considering his options, he'd decided that the best course of action would be to go subtle. He couldn't use a bomb like he had with Fornell because he needed it to look like suicide. So he had laced a bottle of wine with an abundance of sleeping pills and re-corked it. He'd hoped to have Tim long gone by now.

"I don't like to drink on work nights."

"I figured after what you've been through you might need a little unwinding."

Tim opened his mouth with the intention of declining, but he stopped and shrugged instead. "You've got a point. You can go ahead and pour me a glass."

_Finally! _Cooper thought. He poured two glasses (the second for him so Tim wouldn't be suspicious). He, of course, wouldn't actually drink any of it, though. "There you go," he said as he handed the glass off to Tim.

"Thanks," Tim said. He looked into the glass and swirled it, letting the wine swish about inside. Then he lifted it up and sniffed.

Cooper was dying inside. _This isn't a damn wine tasting_, he thought with gritted teeth. _Just drink the damn wine!_

Someone must have heard his thoughts, because Tim then tilted back the glass and took a sip. "Good wine," he said. "And you're right, it's just what I need."

"Yes, I think it is," Cooper said as he hid his smile.

* * *

"Agent Fornell, I understand you're restless, but you're not doing yourself any favors by pushing yourself beyond your own abilities." Dr. Traunfeld had been rushed into the room when it was discovered that Fornell was awake. The FBI agent still had limited mobility, though, and he was having a hard time coming to terms with that.

"C…per," Fornell repeated for the fiftieth time. It was all he seemed able to say.

"Yes, we heard. Now we'll have to do this the hard way. I'll go through the alphabet slowly. When I get the first letter, look up. Then I'll go through again and when I get to the second letter look up again. We'll go through until we know what you're trying to say."

Fornell was frustrated, but he had no choice. Traunfeld started the alphabet and Fornell looked up on 'C.' From there the process began again, ending on 'O.' It continued through 'O,' 'P,' 'E' and 'R.'

"Cooper?" the doctor asked. Fornell nodded. "What about Cooper? Is he a friend?"

Fornell blinked twice for no.

"An enemy? Is he the one who did this to you?"

A single blink for yes.

"Sally, call those agents, tell them what Agent Fornell has just told us."

"Yes, Dr. Traunfeld," she said as she rushed out.

He gave Fornell's hand a reassuring pat. "Don't worry, they'll get him. You're lucky to have survived this. The good news is this guy will be in handcuffs before anyone else gets hurt."

* * *

"So you haven't any idea who our man could be?" Tim asked.

Cooper shook his head. "Sorry, but no one at FBI strikes me as being so insecure. Of course, I don't know everyone there, but I don't know anyone like what your M.E. described."

Tim lifted the glass to his lips once again and took another sip. "Maybe Fornell wasn't on the right track after all."

"Yeah…maybe," Cooper said, obviously distracted. Why wasn't Tim unconscious yet? He'd had enough of the drugged wine to put him out, if not kill him. Why wasn't anything going the way he'd wanted it to? "Uh, can I get you some more wine?"

"No," Tim said with a wave, "I'm still working on this glass. So do you think our hacker could be CIA or something? Because that would be scary. I mean, the CIA is already borderline crazy as it is, so who wants some rogue CIA hacker?"

This was taking too long. He was losing precious time. As it was he had to swing by the hospital to off Fornell before he came to. He didn't have the time or patience for this anymore.

Slowly, Cooper reached behind him and pulled out the gun he'd concealed beneath his jacket. He slid it out and leveled it at Tim who looked very confused.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Sorry, Agent McGee, but it's just taking too long here. I don't know why the crap isn't kicking in, but I'll need you to down that glass of wine. In fact, you should just go ahead and chug the whole bottle."

Tim frowned. "Why?"

"Don't ask stupid questions, just do it."

"No, I mean why should I bother? You obviously put something in there to kill me. Why resign myself to that fate?"

"Because if you don't I'll shoot you and let you die more slowly. I can assure you this will be a far more peaceful death."

"You'll never make it look like a suicide if you shoot me, though."

"I don't care. I don't. Either way, they won't tie you to me. Hell, they won't even be able to prove that your murder had anything to do with this case. I'll make it look like a robbery gone wrong. Now why don't you do yourself a favor and make this easier on both of us?"

Tim glowered at him. "So you did all of this. You hacked the FBI and when Fornell started sniffing around too closely, you tried to kill him."

"I haven't yet failed in killing him."

"Why all of this? Bruised ego?"

Cooper's lips swirled upward into a sneer. "No. If the FBI is too stupid to realize my worth, it's their loss. I just wanted to make a fool out of all of those so-called investigators. I was right under their noses and they still couldn't catch me!"

"Fornell did."

"No, he didn't!" Cooper spat, his eyes flaming. "Fornell is a vegetable in a hospital bed! He is nothing and so are you!"

"You hate me because I helped catch you."

"I hate you because you're a traitor! You're supposed to be a geek like me, but you leave us all behind when they promise you a shiny badge and gun!"

"So you hate me for being what you can't be?"

Cooper's grip on the gun tightened. "I can be whatever the hell I want to be. Now drink the damn wine or I'll put a bullet in your stomach and watch you bleed out."

The door to the bedroom swung open before Cooper could make good on his promise and five special agents—three NCIS, two FBI—filed out with their guns drawn and poised. "That enough for you, Sacks?" Gibbs asked, his eyes still on Cooper.

"I think it is," Sacks agreed. "Drop the gun, Cooper."

The computer geek was flummoxed and the gun fell from his grip and clattered to the floor. "What? N-no, you've got it wrong!"

"Actually, I think we've got it exactly right," Tony said.

"But I…you…how…" he stammered.

"Well, while you were running around like a turkey with his head cut off, we were investigating," Ziva explained. "It did not take long for us to narrow down the number of FBI employees who had flunked FLETC, seeing as most of them either passed or had no intention of being a special agent. You were the only one who wanted it and couldn't make it."

His face was turning red. "I could make it," he insisted through gritting teeth. "I could be every bit as good as any of you!"

"You had no choice but to take the job as a tech guy," Tony continued, obviously not affected by the outburst. "Not as glamorous as being a special agent, but what else can you do?"

"Other than hack the FBI, of course," Tim chimed in with a small grin. "It was the only way you could get back to them. But you overestimated yourself and underestimated them. It didn't take long for Fornell to figure you out. Then you panicked."

"Tried to kill him," Gibbs said. "But you failed at that, too."

"When we mentioned Agent McGee, you saw it as an opportunity to escape discovery," Courtney said.

Tim nodded. "We had to dangle the bait, though, to make a case."

"Bait?" Cooper repeated as he grew increasingly antsy.

Tony smirked. "Yeah, Mr. Bruised Ego. After focusing our energy on you and realizing you were 'helping' the FBI by checking McGee's computers, we got the idea to give you a chance to try to frame him. Vance called off the NCIS escort and we could just hope that your FBI buddy would give you a few minutes alone. You'd take advantage of that and upload stolen Intel onto McGee's computer to incriminate him."

"You can't prove anything," Cooper said with a sneer. "I didn't upload anything on that computer and it's my word against yours."

"Nope, see that's where you're wrong, Cooper. When I hacked into the FBI database for Fornell, my CCU computer was infected with a virus I'd included in the fake info. I'm sure an ambitious guy like you would have seen the alone time not only as an opportunity to frame me, but also to get some NCIS classified information. The problem is that whatever you uploaded the info onto will now have my virus on there. It's like a fingerprint." Tim grinned. "Of course, I'm sure the virus is already crawling all over your own computer from when you stole the faulty Intel from the FBI."

"What we didn't expect was you contacting McGee and pretending you wanted to help," Gibbs said. "We knew it was some sort of ploy to get rid of him, but we figured it was the easiest way to get you to incriminate yourself."

Cooper looked around at the six of them incredulously. "You…you _knew_ all the time?"

Ziva laughed. "We are not the stupid, bumbling agents you like to think we are. We knew you'd try to take out your loose ends. We also knew you would need to make it look like McGee committed suicide because he thought the FBI was closing in on him. If it was obviously murder, the case wouldn't be closed."

"Drugging the wine?" Tim commented as he poured his glass out in the kitchen sink. "Too obvious. I thought a smart, clever guy like you would be better than that."

"You weren't actually drinking it," Cooper accused.

Tim shrugged. "You don't spend seven years with Gibbs and not learn the art of the fake sip."

Cooper was beginning to see red and his body was shaking. This couldn't be happening. He was the smart one and they were the idiots! It wasn't right! They weren't supposed to outsmart him! He was the one who was supposed to win! It wasn't fair, damn it!

"I know what you're thinking," Tony said as he began slapping handcuffs on Cooper. "I agree, five special agents as McGee's backup is a little overkill, especially since our perp is some little egghead punk who probably couldn't hit the blindside of a barn. But you see, none of us wanted to miss the front row seats for this."

"For what?" Cooper growled, pulling against the cuffs. "My arrest?"

Tony grinned. "No, your meltdown."

As Tony and Ziva escorted the raging Cooper out, Sacks' phone began to ring. He snatched it up. "Yeah, Sacks." He was silent as he listened intently to the person on the other end. Then a smile split across his face. "Thanks for letting me know. You can go ahead and tell Fornell it's all been taken care of."

"Fornell?" Gibbs asked. "He finally up?"

"That's what the nurse told me. They're still waiting for his body to catch up, but he's at least aware of what's going on. They managed to get Cooper's name out of him and called to let me know."

Tim fell into his chair with a heavy sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "So it's over."

"It would seem it is, Agent McGee," Sacks said. "I figure once we check out his computer we'll find the stolen Intel. That, combined with Fornell's testimony and what we all heard here, should be enough to build a solid case against him."

Courtney had busied herself in collecting Cooper's discarded gun, the wine glasses, and the wine bottle, and placing them in their own evidence bags. "I'm sorry for all of the inconvenience," she said to Tim. "I'm glad we found the real explanation."

He waved off her apology with a good-natured grin. "You guys were doing your job. I'd probably suspect me too, under the circumstances."

"It's still hard to know you almost made a terrible mistake," she said. "I'll start bringing this down to the car, Agent Sacks."

And so the FBI agent was left alone with Gibbs and the man he'd accused of murder and treason. As happy as he was to finally have the case solved, he hated that it was mostly NCIS' doing and that he had been so wrong in his suspicions. Cooper was so forgettable, so bland. Sacks hadn't even thought to count him among his suspects, something that could have gotten at least two people killed. It made him feel like he'd failed Fornell.

Tim approached him, hand outstretched. "It was nice working with you, Agent Sacks," he said with sincerity in his voice. "Though I hope you'll forgive me if I say I hope I don't have to again for a while."

"Understandable," Sacks said as he shook Tim's hand. "It's been…well…it's been interesting." He turned and gave Gibbs a nod. "I'll send you my report once it's complete."

"Now I really _do_ need some wine," Tim said after Sacks had left. He pulled a bottle out and poured a nice-sized glass. "Want some, boss?"

Gibbs shook his head. "I'll pass. I've got a bottle of bourbon at home that has my name on it. Just make sure I've got your report tomorrow morning." He looked as though he had more to say, but he didn't. Instead, he left the apartment, leaving Tim alone with his wine.

* * *

**AN: **Thanks for all of the wonederful reviews! This is almost complete. There's still a little bit with Gibbs and Tim and a bit of Fornell :)


	14. Chapter 14

When Gibbs entered the squad room the following morning, he was slightly shocked to see Tim already seated at his desk and typing away furiously. After the night they'd all had, Gibbs had expected Tim to arrive just early enough that he wasn't late. At this point he wasn't due to work for another two hours.

"Tim?" he asked

It was strange hearing Gibbs use his first name. "Yeah, boss?"

"You okay?"

Tim shrugged. "I'm fine."

"You're two hours early."

"I wanted to get my report done before you got in. I'm almost done."

Gibbs dropped his things at his desk before going to Tim's. So far the younger agent hadn't even glanced up. His deep green eyes were trained intently on the bright computer screen as his fingers flew effortlessly across the keyboard.

"I know this has been a trying case. Having the FBI after you isn't much fun."

Tim finally looked up with a small smile that was obviously forced. "Well, Tony and Ziva took their turns, so I guess I was just next in line."

"So what's bugging you?"

"What makes you think something's bugging me?"

"You don't exactly have a poker face, Tim. Now are you going to tell me or do I need to bring you into my office?"

Tim stopped his typing and leaned back in his seat with a sigh. "Boss, it's nothing. I'm just tired from all of this and I want to get this done."

"McGee, the last time you lied to me the FBI came after you. Now talk to me."

To Gibbs' surprise, Tim shot up to his feet, knocking his chair back. It rolled and hit the wall with a thud. "That's exactly it!" he said. "I know I wasn't completely honest with you and that wasn't a good idea on my part, but it didn't take you long to assume the worst of me."

"I defended you against Sacks," Gibbs argued back. "I told him he had the wrong guy."

"I know you said that, but deep down you had your doubts, I could tell. You kept looking at me with those suspicious eyes, not sure what to think of me. I could see the wheels in your head turning as you fought yourself internally about whether or not to side with Sacks or with me."

"And what was I supposed to do, McGee? You'd lied to me and now the FBI had this evidence against you. You were a different person."

"Am I the first one to lie to you? Are you going to say that Tony and Ziva never lied to you? Because that's bull and we both know it. The only difference here is that they have a talent for lying whereas I have trouble passing a polygraph even when I'm telling the truth! And yet when they lied to you, you stood by them and continued to believe they were on the level, but the moment I tell you one lie you assume everything you've ever known about me is false."

"Well, I'm used to Ziva and Tony lying. I'm not used to you doing it, though."

"I know," Tim said. He brought his hands up and began massaging his temples. "I know, boss. Lying has never been my forte and it's not something I really like to do. But even I understand that sometimes it has to be done. You've lied to me and the others, but did we ever assume the worst? No, because we knew that whatever reasons you had to lie were good ones and left it at that."

"What about last night?" Gibbs asked. "You told Sacks and Krieger that you would have suspected yourself too. So why get angry with me for having my suspicions?"

"I said that to them because I wasn't surprised they would suspect me. Sure, we've worked together on a couple of cases and we're acquaintances, but they'd have no reason to think I was telling the truth. You, though…boss, you know me. Years I've worked under you. How many times do I have to prove myself before you start looking at me the way you look at Tony and Ziva and even Abby and Ducky? How long? Or will it ever happen at all? Should I just call it quits already?"

Gibbs was taken aback; he'd never heard Tim spew his feelings this way, especially not with such anger. While he might make the occasional complain about poison ivy or Tony's hazing, for the most part Tim kept silent around him, opting to keep his grievances internalized. It was unlike him to actually get angry, especially with Gibbs; it was almost as rare as Tim lying.

"I'm not the newbie anymore, boss. I know you and Tony and even Ziva like to treat me like one, but I'm not. After all these years you should know the kind of man that I am."

"I don't treat you like a newbie," Gibbs protested.

"Oh, really? So why is it I've never gotten an undercover assignment? I mean aside from being a waiter in a hotel while Tony and Ziva did most of the work. Until our assignment to Somalia I had never been given the chance to prove myself, and I'm sure the only reason I was given even that much of a chance was because Ziva wasn't here. I've been on your team for almost six years now. By the time Tony had been here this long he'd already had his own team, however briefly. And yet I'm still considered the Probie."

"What has that got to do with anything?"

Tim looked up at him and Gibbs saw the weariness in his eyes. "It's the reason I took Fornell up on his offer. I mean sure I would have taken it if for no reason other than to help catch a criminal, but just having someone actually believe in me and in my abilities was an ego boost I needed."

"You're starting to sound like Cooper."

"I'm not Cooper. I'm not even close. But he did have a point in his own way."

"And what point is that?"

"I passed FLETC, boss. I'm a special agent, not a CCU worker. And yet it feels like every time we've got an interesting case, I'm left behind to do the geek work. I earned my badge and my gun, boss, and I'd like to think all that work hasn't been in vain."

"Agent McGee!"

Vance had appeared at the top of the stairs and beckoned to Tim. It didn't look as though he'd heard the tirade and if he had he didn't say anything about it. "An FBI agent just arrived to take your statement. He's in my office if you have a moment free." Vance looked at Gibbs on that last comment as though he thought Gibbs might object; Gibbs said nothing, though.

"Sure," Tim said unenthusiastically. He saved what he'd written of his report and logged off. It was clear that the air between him and Gibbs was still heavy and strained with tension, but at the moment it would have to remain that way.

"I'll be back soon," he muttered to Gibbs, his cheeks tinted with pink. The adrenaline rush of his outburst had worn off and now Tim was just feeling embarrassed about the whole thing. He was only glad no one else had witnessed it. Part of him hoped Gibbs would just let it go and they would forget the whole thing, even if it meant things would always be uncomfortable between them.

Gibbs crushed all hope of that happening. "We'll talk about this later, McGee," he said just loudly enough for Tim to hear. He noticed how Tim's shoulder's tensed up and stopped at the words, but then he shrugged it off and continued toward the stairs.

* * *

Tobias Fornell was finally awake and speaking. The doctors had told him to restrict his movements to save energy, but nothing could have kept him from talking. A coma could do that to a man.

He was surprised to see the nurse lead Gibbs into his room. They were friends, of course (at least as much of friends as either of them could be with another person), but Gibbs wasn't exactly the hospital visit type. His bedside manner left quite a bit to be desired.

"Gibbs," he rasped as a greeting. "Work at NCIS so boring you had nothing else to do but come see me lying in a hospital bed?"

"Actually, I'm wasting lunch to be here," he said as he took a seat. "How are you feeling, Tobias?"

"I've been better. Then again, I've also been worse."

Gibbs nodded mutely.

With no sign that Gibbs was going to say anything else, Fornell continued. "I think the worst thing about this place is their piss poor excuse for coffee."

Again, Gibbs nodded mutely. Fornell wondered if he'd even heard him or if he'd just programmed himself to nod when Fornell went silent for more than three seconds.

"Okay, Gibbs," Fornell said with a sigh, "out with it."

"Out with what?"

"Out with whatever you came here to say. I know you didn't come to ask how I was feeling."

Gibbs was silent for a few moments, his eyes not quite reaching Fornell's. His jaw clenched and unclenched as he sat there trying to figure out how to proceed from there. Heart to heart talks weren't his specialty, especially not with people who were just like him. But it was something that had to be said.

"I know I'm not infallible," Gibbs began uncertainly. "I make mistakes sometimes."

Fornell snorted. "You don't have to tell me that. I married Diane too."

Gibbs allowed himself a faint smile. "I'm talking about my professional life, not my personal life."

"Why are you worrying about that? You solved the case. My people were the ones in the wrong there."

"They weren't the only ones," he said with a grimace.

"What? You honestly suspected the kid, too?"

Gibbs shrugged. "I had my doubts. I become suspicious when my people lie to me."

"Well, don't blame him for that. I told him not to tell anyone, no matter what. It's not that I didn't trust you, but…"

"The best way to keep a secret is to keep it to yourself," Gibbs said, finishing the sentence for him.

Fornell nodded wearily. "In hindsight that may not have been the smartest thing on my part, but I hadn't anticipated Cooper's attempt to kill me.

"Still," he continued, "aside from a little hacking now and then—most of which I'm sure is ordered by you—McGee's a good kid. You of all people should know that. Heck, I wish he'd chosen the FBI over NCIS."

The comment caught Gibbs' attention. He knew other agencies had taken note of Tim's abilities. He took pride in knowing his team members were sought after by other government agencies. It meant he had the best.

"Why'd you recruit him for this?" Gibbs asked. "If you knew it was Cooper, why even bother going outside of the agency?"

"Partly because I didn't know how close Cooper was to our other computer aficionado."

"And the other part?"

"McGee's the best. At least, he's the best I've seen. Sure, they may be others who are handy with a computer, but few of them have the skills as an investigator as well. For me it was a no-brainer."

"You weren't trying to convince him to leave us for FBI?"

Fornell smiled sheepishly. "Can't blame a guy for trying, Gibbs. Anyway, what's all this about? McGee leaving?" He meant it as a joke, but Gibbs was silent. "Is he?" Fornell asked, his tone more serious this time.

"He seems to think I treat him differently than I do the rest of my team."

"Do you?"

Gibbs found that he didn't have an answer for that. "I was hoping to get your perspective on that."

"Well, having observed you working with your team, I think there's a slight difference between how you respond to him and how you respond to the rest of them."

"In what way?"

"I don't know…small things, I guess. It seems like he gets stuck behind the computer most of the time."

"He knows that stuff better than we do."

"Ever try and learn it better? DiNozzo and David ever work on their computer skills?"

"They're investigators, not technicians."

"For what it's worth, Gibbs, I agree. But we're living in new times and those times call for better computer skills. How did you get by before McGee was on your team?"

"We had Abby."

"And you have her now too. Yet you rely on McGee for that kind of stuff."

"It's his thing."

"It's one of his things," Fornell corrected. "McGee must have passed FLETC to get this far, so why chain him to his desk so much? I know he's young, but he's able. You wouldn't have him on our team is he wasn't."

They were silent for a few moments with only the annoying beeps of medical machines to fill the void. It was Gibbs who finally spoke again. "Tony worked on police forces before coming to NCIS," he said. "Kate had been in the Secret Service and Ziva was in Mossad. They'd all had experience with this kind of stuff. McGee, though…he came almost straight out of FLETC. He looked to me to teach him."

"And now you can't help but automatically assume the role of teacher with him as the pupil," Fornell guessed.

The door creaked open and the nurse stepped in. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave. Agent Fornell needs rest."

Gibbs nodded. "I need to get back anyway."

But Fornell still had one more bit of advice to bestow upon Gibbs before he left. "People change, Jethro. If after all these years McGee is still nothing more than a student then you aren't teaching him right."

* * *

**AN:** One more chapter left!


	15. Chapter 15

Tony, Ziva, and Tim were all submerged in their work when Gibbs came back from his lunch break. Well, maybe they weren't submerged in any work at all (he heard the telltale beeping of some electronic game and caught Ziva updating her Facebook status), but considering there wasn't much work to do anyway, he didn't worry about it.

"McGee," he said, giving the man a nod. "Want to step into my office?"

"Not especially," he muttered. He was immediately apologetic. "Sorry, boss. It's just that the last time I went into your office I ended up being accused of hacking by the FBI."

"Don't apologize," Gibbs reminded, though he continued nodding toward the elevator. "This'll only take a moment."

Rather than argue, Tim pushed his chair back and followed behind. Both men were aware of Tony's and Ziva's curious eyes watching them as they passed. The doors opened for them and they stepped on.

"That was quite a talk we had this morning," Gibbs said once he'd flipped the switch and stopped the car mid-motion.

"I know, I know," Tim said, gently rubbing his temples. "I didn't mean it. I'm just stressed out from everything that happened."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "It's okay if you meant it. I'm not mad."

Tim relaxed visibly and nodded. "Okay, so I did mean it. It's something that's been on my mind a bit lately. I guess it finally bubbled over."

"So why'd you wait so long?"

"I didn't want to get head-smacked into next week."

To Tim's shock, Gibbs grinned at that. "Nice to see I've built up such a reputation for myself. But I don't want you to think you can't talk to me about something. I'm not the best at sharing feelings, but I'm not some hard-ass crazy dictator."

"I don't think of you as a dictator," Tim assured him. "But the idea of opening up to you about something is a bit unnerving."

"Well, you've already toed the door open so you may as well just barrel on right through."

Tim shoved his hands in his pockets and slumped back against the wall of the elevator. "I know I don't have as much experience as you or Tony and Ziva. My strengths have usually been in electronics and computer proficiency. But that doesn't mean I haven't learned a lot since I joined the team. I'm not the same timid Probie I used to be, even if Tony insists on calling me one."

"And what has all of this got to do with you lying to me?"

"It doesn't, I guess. Not directly any way."

"But indirectly?"

He shrugged. "I just feel like I'm treated differently than Tony and Ziva. Like I said, when they lie you might get pissed, but you shrug it off; when I did it everyone acted like it was the end of the world or something. Combine that with constantly feeling like nothing I do is good enough and it just hits a nerve."

Gibbs digested this while his conversation with Fornell played in his mind. "So you think the FBI is more your speed?"

That brought about a double-take from Tim. "What? No! I was just doing that as a favor to Fornell! I mean, I'm not interested in leaving NCIS or anything. It's not that big of a deal."

"If it wasn't that big of a deal you wouldn't have brought it up, McGee."

"Well, yeah, okay, it's kind of a big deal to me, but not big enough to make me want to go running to the FBI or anything. It's not even a big enough deal for me to want to leave the team. It's just an annoyance." His lips twitched upward into a half-smile. "What made you think I'd be interested in joining the FBI?"

Gibbs shrugged. "They appreciated you. At least, Fornell did."

"He did for that case. Can't say I'd be appreciated for every case. Fornell isn't any more computer savvy than you are."

When Gibbs didn't return his grin, Tim sighed. "Look, boss, I wasn't trying to start something or imply that you're not a great team leader. I just was frustrated and spewed my guts. I'm not discontent or dissatisfied and I have no intention of leaving the team or the agency or anything. Like I said, it's just an annoyance, nothing else. Now can we just forget it?"

Gibbs was surprised that Tim wasn't pushing the issue further, but he wasn't going to fight it, though he couldn't agree to forget it completely. He nodded mutely and flipped the switch, jolting the car into motion.

When they exited, Tony called out, "Boss, we've got a body in Norfolk. I already called it down to Ducky."

"Gear up!" Gibbs ordered as he did the same.

"Probie," Tony whispered to Tim as he passed, "what'd you guys talk about?"

Before Tim could respond, Gibbs' hand smacked against the back of Tony's head. "If I wanted you to hear it, DiNozzo, I would have said it in front of you. Now go gas the truck."

"Yes, boss," he replied, surreptitiously giving Tim a "we'll talk later," look before grabbing the keys and running down to the garage.

* * *

It was early in the evening when Tim entered the hospital. He wasn't sure if Fornell was still awake, but he figured it couldn't hurt to check.

He was in luck. Fornell was sitting up at the moment, trying to enjoy the dinner he'd been brought, but the quality of the so-called food was making it difficult to enjoy. The television was on and an evening news show was playing, but it was on mute and Fornell didn't seem to be paying too much attention to what was being reported.

"McGee," he greeted with more than a little surprise. "It's late. What are you doing here?"

Tim ventured awkwardly into the room. Despite having been recruited by Fornell to help in the case, he didn't consider the man much more than an occasional acquaintance. With the case wrapped up and Cooper caught, what had they to really talk about?

"I just realized that I hadn't dropped in to see how you were doing since all of this."

"It's fine," Fornell said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You had your own problems to worry about." He gestured to the chair, imploring Tim to take a seat. "So spill, kid. I'm sure you didn't come all this way to see how I was. A phone call would have answered that question."

"Did you mean what you said?"

"What I said when?"

"When you said you'd love to have me on your team."

"You think I was lying?"

Tim fidgeted. "Well, I'm not sure if you were just trying to flatter me so that I'd help you."

"I don't go out of my way to flatter people, McGee. Besides, if I didn't appreciate your skills I wouldn't have approached you in the first place. You're a good agent, not to mention one who can actually work a computer. I think the agency would be lucky to have you." He eyed Tim suspiciously for a moment before asking, "You're not thinking of leaving NCIS, are you?"

"No…well, not really," Tim replied honestly. "I just liked being appreciated. I mean, when you made that remark I almost wanted to take you up on it."

"Almost?"

"I mulled over it that night," he admitted. "That was one of the most exhilarating things I've done in a while. You know, the thrill of maybe being caught, of getting to be the bad guy for a brief second, even if what I was doing was for a good reason. Definitely more exciting than running phone records."

"Things that boring over at NCIS?"

He shrugged. "Not so much boring as routine."

"Yeah, well, you'll find that no matter where you work." Fornell pushed his food tray off to the side and leaned back. "The offer still stands, though. I know Gibbs would probably have my ass if I talked you or any member of his team into coming over to us, but I won't pretend like I wouldn't want any of you working under me."

Tim offered a small smile. "I guess I'm glad I came out here."

"Because you've changed your mind on my offer?"

"No, because I'm sure I've made the best decision."

They nodded their mutual goodbyes as Tim stood to go. He'd almost walked through the door when Fornell's voice stopped him. "Don't be too hard on Gibbs," he said. "I know he can be frustrating and stubborn, but he generally means well. I'm sure he appreciates your skills more than you think. You just need patience with him sometimes. As much as he may like to pretend, he's not perfect."

* * *

_The Next Day_

"We may have a break in the Flynn case," Gibbs said as he placed the phone back in its cradle. "That was a tip from someone who says they saw our dead Petty Officer at a warehouse in Fairfax a couple of days before his body was found."

The three members of his team simultaneously grabbed their gear and began to ready themselves, but they were stopped by a shrill whistle that shrieked through the air. "Hey! Only need two of you to go out there. Someone needs to stay here and run through phone records."

Tim felt himself deflate. Of course, once again he'd be chained to the computer.

"Ziva, McGee," Gibbs said, jerking his thumb to the elevator, "go on. DiNozzo, get on those phone records."

Tony hesitantly dropped his things. "You sure, boss? I mean, of course you're sure," he said, catching sight of Gibbs' glare, "I just mean, well, phone records are more of a McGeek thing."

"Well, McGee can't do it since he's going out to Fairfax, so that leaves you."

"Uh, it's not exactly my best skill."

"Then maybe it's a skill you should acquire. We can't rely on McGee for all computer related tasks. Now unless you have something more to say, I suggest you get on it."

As Tim passed by with his things in hand, Gibbs could swear he saw a very satisfied smile on the young man's face.

* * *

**AN: **Thus ends the story! Thank you all for reading and reviewing. I truly appreciate the feedback!


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